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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 


E,  C.  Robbins 


o 


# 


-A.CADE     OF     MUIR     OLACIER.     ALASKA. 


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AMERICAN  BANK  NOTE  CO. 


cHew>6rk- 

36631 


Copyright,  1890,  by  Septima  M.  Collis. 


A  WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO 
ALASKA 


BEING  AN  ACCOUNT  OF 
A  VOYAGE  THROUGH  THE 
INLAND  SEAS  OF  THE 
SITKAN  ARCHIPELAGO  IN 
l8qo 


SEPTIMA    M.    COLLIS 

(Mrs.  General  C.  H.  T.  Collis) 
author  of  "  a  woman's  war  record."' 


Illustraied  by  American    Bank   Note    Co.    New   York. 


NEW  YORK 

CASSELL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

104  &:  106  FoiRTH  Avenue 


PREFACE. 

Iw  the  following  pages  I  have  not  made  even  a  pi"e- 
tence  of  writing  a  scientific  or  historical  work.  It  is 
not  of  special  interest  to  those  for  Avhom  I  write  to 
know  the  exact  pressni'e  to  the  square  inch  which  pro- 
pels the  seas  of  ice  as  they  furrow  their  way  from  the 
Arctic  regions  through  the  mountain  gorges  down  to 
the  softening  influences  of  the  Japanese  stream,  nor  to 
trace  the  vicissitudes  of  Alaska  from  the  voyages  of 
Captain  Cook  down  to  the  purchase  by  Mr.  Seward  in 
1867,  nor  yet  to  familiarize  themselves  mth  the  etli- 
nology  of  the  various  tribes  of  Indians  who  inhabit 
the  Aleutian  Islands.  All  this  has  been  better  done 
than  I  could  ever  hope  to  do  it.  My  sole  object  is  to 
put  on  paper,  for  the  benefit  of  others,  the  impressions 
made  upon  me  by  the  voyage,  and  to  explain  how  this 
delightful  excursion  can  be  enjoyed  ^vithout  the  slight- 
est fatigue  or  discomfort,  and  at  a  tnfling  expense.  I 
want  them  to  know,  as  I  know,  that  the  ship  is  a  yacht, 
of  which  the  Captain  is  the  host,  the  passengers  his 
guests,  and  the  object  of  the  cruise  the  pursuit  of 
pleasure;  and  if  I  succeed  in  inducing  my  country- 
women to  follow  my  example  and  postpone  Paris  and 
London,  Rome  and  Vienna,  the  Rhine  and  the  Alps,  to 
some  future  day,  they  will  always  have  reason  to  be 
grateful  to  me,  and  I  shall  always  have  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  my  effort. 

Septima  M.  Collis. 


Ko.  7;")  West  7 1st  Street, 

New  York,  Nov.  Ttli,  IhUO. 

Mrs.  General  Collis, 

New  ^'ork  City. 

Dear  ^SEada^i  : 

It  ^v;i8  ii  liandsome  compliment  for  you  to 
submit  to  me  tlie  2'J"(^<>f^  <'f  }'our  fortli-coming  book 
"^V  AVoman's  Trip  to  Alaska,"  every  ^vord  of  Avhich  I 
lia\'e  read  Avitli  2)i'ofit  and  pleasure,  and  I  am  sure  it 
will  influence  thousands  of  touiists  to  visit  oiu-  own 
sublime  regions  in  America  before  going  to  Europe. 

I  profess  to  be  some^^'llat  familiar  witli  e\'erv  route 
of  travel  between  Xe\\'  York,  Puget  Sound  and  Britisli 
Columbia,  and  can  verify  your  faithful  description  as 
far  as  Queen  Charlotte  Sound.  Thence  to  Sitka,  Muir 
Glacier  and  Juneau,  your  ti*ip  Avent  beyond  my  i)er- 
sonal  experience ;  although  I  have  conversed  A\'ith  many 
officers  who  have  been  there  and  beyond,  all  of  A\hom 
will  bear  testimony  to  }'Our  faithful  descriptions. 

In  reading  youi'  text  I  Avas  impressed  by  yoiu"  ap- 
preciation of  the  heroic  achievements  of  our  American 
j)ioneers  Avho  have  brought  the  Pacific  States  Avithin 
easy  reacli  of  tlie  most  delicate  and  refined  of  our 
Eastern  people;    that  you  describe  the  comfort    and 


2083211 


real  luxury  of  travel  in  tliat  m^w  reiiiou  ;  the  excellent 
hotels  and  steamers  equal,  if  not  su[)erioi\  to  those  of 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  tlie  chai'ities  of  our  wealthy  to 
save  what  is  possible  of  the  nati\es  of  our  newly 
acquired  territory,  especially  that  of  Mrs.  Elliott  F. 
Shepard,  grand-daughter  of  Coinuiodore  Vandei"T)ilt,  at 
Sitka. 

I  am  sure  this  book  will  have  a  large  circulation,  that 
it  will  do  much  good,  and  will  remain  to  you  and  youi' 
children  a  monument  more  lasting  than  marble  or 
bronze. 

Affectionately  your  fi'iend, 

AVM.  T.  SHERMAN, 

(xeneial. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


How  to  Dress  and  What  to  Take. — Checking  Baggage. — Trip  over  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad. — A  Halt  and  a  Dinner  in  Cliicago. — 
Minneapolis :  its  Flour-IMills,  and  its  Beaiitiful  P.uildings,  Lakes, 
and  Parks        ...........       i-g 

CHAPER  11. 

West  from  IMinneapolis. — Comforts  of  the  Dining-Car. — Bismarck. — 
Previous  Visit  in  1883. — Grant,  Villard,  and  Evarts. — Sitting  Bull's 
Unpopularity. — The  Bad  Lands. — Marquis  deMores's  Unsuccessful 
Venture. — The  Yellowstone  River. — Indians,  Cowboys,  and  Ever- 
changing  Scenery. — The  Wonders  of  the  Yellowstone  Park. — A 
Trip  through  it  with  President  Arthur,  General  Sheridan,  and  Others, 
All  Now  Deceased. — Helena,  Montana. — A  Sunday  Dinner  on  Board 
the  Train. — Wonderful  Trestles  and  Engineering. — Clark's  Eork. — 
Lake  Pend  d'Oreille. — The  Sportsman's  Paradise. — Spokane  Falls. 
— Miles  of  Uninteresting  Sage  Grass. — Moxie  Farm. — An  Amusing 
Visitor. — The  Cascade  Mountains. — Stampede  Tunnel. — The  Puy- 
allup  Valley. — Arrival  at  Tacoma    .......   10-33 

CHAPTER  III. 

Tacoma  of  .Seven  Years  Ago. — Tacoma  of  To-Day. — Its  Prosperous 
Population. — Culture  and  Refinement. — Lumber  ^lills  and  Ship- 
ping.— Rapid  Building. — "The  Tacoma"  Hotel. — Mount  Tacoma,   34-44 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Steamship  Queen. — Her  ^Vdmirable  Appointments, — Obliging  Offi- 
cers and  Servants. — Captain  Carroll  and  One  of  his  Jokes. — Seattle. 
— Its  Wonderful  Growth  since  the  Great  Fire. — An  Indian's  Floating 
Residence. — Puget  Sound. — Its  Beautiful  Islands. — Wonderful 
Young  Cities. — Anacortes  and  P'airhaven. — Port  Townsend. — Fresh 
Arrivals  from  San  Francisco    ........  45-56 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PACK 

Arrival  at  Victoria,  B.  C. — \\\  Eden  of  Flowers. — The  English  May- 
flower.— Exquisite  Landscape. — Superb  View  of  the  Bay  and  Moun- 
tain Ranges. — Grand  Sunset. — Civility  of  the  Residents, — Dinner  at 
the  "  Poodle  Dog." — A  Moonlight  Tramp  to  the  Ship     .         .         .   57-66 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Up  Early  and  on  Deck. — Who  Are  the  Early  Risers  ? — The  Gulf  of 
Georgia  and  Johnstone  Straits. — Vancouver  and  San  Juan  Islands. 
— Snow-Clad  Mountains, — More  Picturesque  Islands. — Breakfast. — 
Whales,  Water-falls,  Seals,  and  Porpoises. — A  Most  Enjoyable  Day, 
—Wonderfully  Transparent  Water.         ......  67-75 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Arrival  at  Fort  Wrangell. — Its  History. — Meeting  the  Governor  of 
Alaska. — The  Totena  Poles, — Their  Meaning. — Curious  Carvings 
by  the  Natives. — The  Wretched  Indian  Homes. — Poverty,  Filth,  and 
Disease. — An  Indian  Woman's  Life  of  Toil  and  Shame. — Infanti- 
cide,— Polygamy. — Indian  Graves. — An  Amphibious  Hotel. — The 
Trip  from  Fort  Wrangell  to  Sitka. — The  Delta  of  the  Stickeen  River 
— Exquisite  Scenery  and  Long-Continued  Daylight. — Arrival  at 
Sitka 76-88 

CHAPTER  VIII, 

Sitka, — So  Much  like  Naples, — Mt.  Edgecombe, — The  Dilapidated  Store- 
Houses. — Baranoff  Castle  :  its  Flistory  and  Reminiscences. — Lady 
Franklin  and  William  H.  Seward. — The  Ceremony  of  Handing 
over  Alaska  by  Russia  to  the  United  States. — The  Journey  of 
Civilization  Westward  around  the  Globe, — Indians  and  their  Knick- 
Knacks. — Superstition  against  Photography. — Indian  Adornments. 
— The  Rancherie  and  its  Horrors, — Princess  Thom. — The  American 
Shops, — The  Russo-Greek  Church, — Service  by  Archbishop  Ma- 
dimir. — Wonderful  Interior  Decorations. — American  Ladies  at 
Sitka  and  How  They  Live. — The  Indian  River  Walk, — The  Blarney 
Stone. — Presbyterian  Missions  and  Mrs,  Elliott  F,  Shepard's 
Schools  and  Hospitals, — Wonderful  Work  of  the  Missionaries  and 
Progress  of  the  Pupils, — The  Narrow  Gulf  between  Barbarism  and 
Civilization 89-124 


CONTENTS. 

CTIAPTKR  IX. 

J-AtiK 

1  )eparture  from  Sitka. — Everybody  Happy. — Thoroughly  Satisfied  %\illi 
the  Day's  Experience. — Suggestions  for  Improvement  of  Condition 
of  the  Sitkans. — The  Thousand  Islands  and  their  Eoliage. — Mt. 
Edgecombe  Again. — Tlie  Fairweatlier  Mountains  by  Twilight. — .V 
Night  of  Continuous  Day. — .Vmazing  Effect  of  Sunset  and  Sunrise. 
— The  Dawn  of  the  IMorning  Finds  Everybody  on  Deck. — Fields  of 
Ice  and  Icebergs  in  Glacier  Bay. — The  Captain's  Anxiety  and  Skill. 
— "Coffee?"  "No,  Thanks." — Description  of  Muir  Glacier      .     125-143 

CHAPTER  X. 

My  First  Sight  of  Muir  Glacier. — The  Spell-Bound  Passengers. — What  it 
Looks  like. — Its  Colossal  Grandeur  and  Exquisite  Coloring. — Break- 
ing off  of  the  Front  with  Loud  Detonations. — Impressions  Made 
upon  Previous  Writers. — Ascent  to  the  Top  of  the  Glacier. — Its 
Dangers  and  Fatigues     ........         144-158 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Taking  Ice  Aboard. — The  Lake  of  the  Gods  and  Scidmore  Island. — 
The  Fairweathers  by  Daylight  :  Fairweather,  Crillon,  and  La 
Perouse. — Divine  Service  on  the  Qiiecv. — Meeting  the  Pinta  and 
Handing  the  Sailors  their  jSIail. — Douglass  Island  and  its  Gold 
Mines. — History  of  the  Treadwell  Mine. — Cheap  and  Profitable 
Mining. — A  Quarry  of  Gold. — Juneau. — Prettily  Located. — Its  His- 
tory.— Great  Depot  for  Furs. — Methods  of  the  Indian  Trader. — A 
Treasure  Lost  and  Regained. — The  Native  Dances  Given  by  an  Alas- 
kan Showman. — Weird  and  Unique  Performance. — Remarkable  Cos- 
tumes of  the  Dancers. — The  Shaman  Dance   ....         159-174 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Taku  Inlet. — Up  the  Lynn  Canal  to  Chilcat,  above  the  59th  Degree  of 
Latitude. — Auk  and  Eagle  Glaciers. — The  Davidson  Glacier. — Kil- 
lisnoo  and  its  Fisheries. — Wrangell  Narrows  and  Clarence  Straits. 
— The  American  Eagle. — Whale  Food. — The  Oulikon  or  Candle- 
Fish. — Schools  of  Whales  in  Search  of  Food. — Bute  Inlet. — Fort 
Simpson,  B.  C. — A  Post  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. — Methodist 
Church. — Ravages  of  La  Grippe. — Mourning  and  Tombstones. — 
"Muck  a  muck." — The  Man-Eaters  and  Dog-Eaters. — Horrible  Bar- 
barism before  the  Arrival  of  Mr.  William  Duncan  and  the  Mission- 
aries.— Death  in  a  Hut,  and  the  Anguish  of  an  Old  Squaw      .         175-1S5 


CONTENTS. 

CHATTKK   XITT. 

PAGE 

Metlahkatlali,  B.  C. — An  Indian  Village  with  a  Good  ("lovernment.^ — 
Their  Written  Constitution. — Their  Industries  and  Mechanical  YAu- 
cation. — Nanaimo. — A  Game  of  Base-Dall. — Celebrated  Coal  Mines. 
— Recent  Sad  Calamity  in  One  of  Them. — Great  Resort  for  Sports- 
men.— Splendid  Fishing  and  Hunting. — Victoria  Again,  and  the 
"  Poodle  Dog"  Once  More. — "Squimault  and  the  Boating-Grounds. — 
Election-Day. — The  Australian  Ballot. — A  Cause  C^lebre. — Arrival 
Once  More  at  Tacoma. — Off  for  the  Vosemite  .         .         186-194 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

By  the  American  Bank  Note  Company^  of  New    York. 


The  Muir  Glacier — Frontispiece. 

Portrait  of  the  Author — Gultekunst,  Phila. 

Home  of  Hon.  W.  D.  Washburn,  Minneapolis,         -            -  7 

Indian  of  the  Plains  — Photo,  by  Notman  &  Son,             .            .  9 

Gen'l  Grant  at  Bismarck,           -            -            -            -            -  13 

A  Brief  Halt,               --_-...  14 

Home  of  the  Marquis  de  Mores,          .            .            .            .  17 

Indians  and  Cowboys,             .-__..  18 

Old  Faithful — Photo.  b\-  Haynes,          .            .            .            .  iq 

Yellowstone  Falls — Photo,  by  Haynes,        -            -            -            -  20 

President  Arthur  and  Companions,     -            -            -            .  21 

Marent  Trestle — Photo,  by  Haynes,             -            -            -            -  24 

Near  Clark's  Fork— -Photo,  by  Haynes,            ...  25 

Spokane  Falls — Photo,  by  Haynes,                .            .            .            .  27 

"Ah,  There!"         -------  30 

Cutting  Timber  in  Washington— Photo,  by  Davidson,     -            -  32 

The  Wharves  at  Tacoma — Photo,  by  Davidson,           -             -  33 

Tacoma— Photo,  by  Rutter,       ------  35 

Pacific  Avenue,  Tacoma — Photo,  by  Haynes,               -            -  38 

Mount  Tacoma — Photo,  by  Rutter,                 -            -            -            -  42 

puyallup  hop-pickers,                 -----  44 

"Give  Her  a  Coat  of  Paint,"         -            .            .            .            .  48 

Seattle — Photo,  by  Haynes,                       -            .            -            .  50 

Bishop  Vladimir,          -------  55 

A  Bit  of  Scenery  from  the  Deck,       -            .            .            -  56 

Victoria — Pholo.  by  Maynard,                -             .             ...  59 


PAGE 

Victoria  Hosi>italitv,       ......  62 

All  Hands  on  Deck,  -------  68 

Scenery  in  the  Gulk  ok  Georgia,         .            .            -            .  70 

------  70 

------  70 

72 

Johnstone  Straits,             -.---.  75 

Fort  Wrangeli.,            -...-.-  76 

Totem  Poles  at  Fort  Wrangell — Photo,  by  Taber,  -            -  77 

A  Street  in  Fort  Wrangell — Photo,  b)^  Taber,    -            -            -  78 

Totem  Poles  at  Fort  Wrangell — Photo,  hv  Taber,   -            -  79 

Indian  Squaws  at  Fort  Wrangell,             -            -            .            .  81 

Indian  Grave  at  Fort  WRANciELL^from  Photo,  by  Taliei,     -  83 

The  Stickeen  Delta,  -------  85 

The  Kodak  Fiends,            ------  86 

Sitka  (from  the  Wharf),       ------  88 

Sitka  (from  the  Bay) — Photo,  by  Taber,           -            -            .  gi 

Portrait  of  William  H.  Seward,    -----  94 

Lincoln  Street,   Sitka — Photo,  by  Taber,          -            -            .  g6 

Group  of  Indians  at  Sitka,              -            -            .            .            -  57 

99 

"                 "                 "                        -----  100 

"                      "                      "                       ....                -  lOI 

The  Rancherie  at  Sitka — Photo,  by  Taber,             -            -            -  102 

Group  of  Indians  at  Sitka,        -----  103 

The  Rancherie  at  Sitka,       ------  104 

Princess  Thom,        -------  105 

Group  of  Indians  at  Sitka,  ------  io5 

Interior  of  Indian's  House  at  Sitka — Photo,  by  Partridge,  107 

Greek  Church  at  Sitka,       -            -            -            -            -            -  no 

Interior  of  Greek  Church — Photo,  by  Albertstone,    .            .  113 

The  Indian  River  at  Sitka — Photo,  by  Winter,     -            -            .  117 

Group  OF  Indian  Boys— Photo,  by  Winter,         -            -            -  118 

Mrs.  Shepard's  Training  School,     -----  120 

The  Mission  Children,     ------  121 

The  Museum  at  Sitka,             ------  124 

Mission  Children  and  Band,       -----  125 


PAOh. 

On  Deck  ;   leaving  Sitka,      ------  126 

A  Night  of  Continual  Day,       .            .            -            .            .  129 

Icebergs  Ahead,            -------  131 

In  a  Sea  of  Ice,      -            -            -            -            -            -            -  132 

Immense  Floating  Ice,             -....-  135 

MuiR  Glacier  at  a  Distance,      -----  143 

A  Bit  of  the  Muir  Glacier,             _            -            -            .            -  146 

The  Climb,   --------  154 

The  Top  of  Muir  Gi.aciek — Photo,  by  I'lirtridge,  -            -            -  156 

On  Top,         -----            -            -            -  157 

Canoe  Race  by  Alaska  Indians,      -----  158 

Hoisting  Ice  on  Board,    ------  159 

The  Treadwell  Gold  Mines,             -            -            -            -            -  162 

A  Whole  Quarry  of  Gold,        .            -            .            .            .  163 

Juneau — Photo,  by  Taber,         -....-  165 

Alaska  Curios,       ---....  168 

Indian  Dances,-            ---..--  172 

Indian  Canoe,         -           -           -           -           -           -           -  174 

Indian  with  Thlinkjt  Blanket,      -            -            -            -            -  174 

Davidson  Glacier — Photo,  by  Winter,     -            -            -            -  177 

Killisnoo — Photo,  by  Winter,                .             -             .             .             -  178 

The  Mt.  St.  Elias  Range,            -            -            -            .            .  iSo 

A  Picture  of  Despair,           ------  185 

Educated  Alaska  Indians  at  Home,     .            -            -            -  189 

The  Boating  Grounds  at  Victoria — Photo,  by  Maynard,            -  191 

Map  showing  Route  of  the  Steamer  "  Oieen,"        -       3d  page  cover 


|Y  DEAR  AMELIA : 

To  visit  Alaska  !  This,  as  you 
know,  liacl  been  a  dream  of  many 
years.  I  liad  listened  enviously  to 
those  who  had  been  there;  I  had 
read  every  thing  within  reach  ^^  liidi 
had  been  Avritten  about  it;  the  more  1  ht^aiil 
and  the  more  I  read,  the  more  I  ho])ed. 
At  last,  most  unexpectedly,  just  as  I  had  completed 
my  arrangements  to  spend  my  summer  as  usual  at  Sara- 
toga, the  welcome  words  came  from  your  father :  "  1  will 
hav^e  to  start  for  Tacoma  in  a  few  days  ;  come  along,  and 
run  up  to  Alaska."  I  don't  think  I  slept  any  more 
quietly  or  soundly  that  night  than  did  your  little  one 
when  he  hung  up  his  stocking  on  Christmas  eve.  Oh, 
no  !  Womanlike,  I  was  mentally  packing  my  trunk 
for  the  next  few  hours  M'ith  the  many  things  w  hich 
I  felt  sure  would  be  indispensable  to  my  comfort,  and 


2  A    WOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

having  filled  oue  in  tlie  usual  style  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  horrid  thing  wouldn't  shut,  I  began  to  ask 
myself  how  little  would  be  needed  by  your  father,  and 
whether  he  couldn't  find  room  for  a  dress  or  two  in  his. 

I  am  not  going  to  tell  you  what  a  blunder  I  made 
Avlien  I  really  did  lay  out  my  stores  for  the  campaign, 
but  I  am  going  to  do  my  best  to  prevent  you  following 
so  bad  an  example,  if  I  can  induce  you  to  make  the  trip. 

Dress  yourself  at  the  start  in  a  sensible,  inexpensive 
cloth  travelling  suit,  of  ordinary  warmth;  let  it  fit 
comfortably  and  not  fashionably  (you  know  \vhat  I 
mean).  In  addition,  carry  one,  and  only  one,  costume 
whicli  will  serve  for  church,  dinner,  theatre,  or  occasion 
of  ceremony,  for  I  assui'e  you  there  are  two  oi-  three 
places  en  route  where  the  refinements  and  convention- 
alities of  life  are  strictly  ol:)served,  and  as  you  are  a  fair 
specimen  of  your  sex,  you  will  want  to  look  up  to  the 
standard  ;  otherwise  you  will  feel  ill  at  ease.  Of  course 
you  will  take  a  proper  supply  of  warm  under-garments, 
and  then  be  sure  to  add,  if  they  are  not  already  in 
your  portmanteau,  the  following  indispensables :  A 
long  fur-lined  cloak  and  an  ulster  (not  a  heavy 
one),  which  can  be  put  on  in  a  hurry  and  made  to 
counterfeit  an  entire  costume ;  otherwise  you  will  be 
very  apt  to  miss  exquisite  bits  of  the  ever-changing 
scenery,  because  you  "are  Just  lying  down  for  a  nap 
and  are  really  not  fit  to  be  seen "  when  some  kind 
friend  calls  you  to  run  across  to  the  starboard  side  to  see 
a  thousand  feet  of  cascade,  visible  only  for  a  few  min- 
utes, as  the  boat  speeds  past  it.     A  warm  muff  :  you 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE.  3 

will  find  lots  of  muffs  on  tlie  ship,  uo  doubt,  but  the}' 
all  keep  their  hands  in  their  trousers'  pockets,  and  you 
will  sometimes  wish  you  had  pockets,  too,  unless  you 
wrap  your  little  fingers  as  I  suggest.  I  would  several 
times  ha\"e  given  half  the  money  your  father  had  in  liis 
purse  if  I  had  not  left  my  little  seal-skin  muff'  in  the 
camphor  closet  at  home.  A  pair  of  broad-soled,  low- 
heeled  shoes  that  have  been  already  worn,  \\\\\\  a  few 
nails  in  sole  and  heel  protruding  just  enough  to  impress 
the  smooth  surface  of  the  crlacial  ice.  A  lis-ht-weitJ^ht 
mackintosh,  with  hood.  A  pair  of  smoked  glasses.  A 
pair  of  powerful  field-glasses.  Do  all  this  and  you  are 
fully  equipped  for  the  journey.  Any  thing  else  you 
take  is  simply  impedimenta.  As  my  journey  fi'om  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  was  so  thoroughly  enjoyable  and 
restful  that  I  was  really  loth  to  leave  the  train  when  I 
reached  Tacoma,  I  cannot  better  guide  you  than  by 
telling  the  story  of  my  own  journey. 

Having  procured  our  tickets  over  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  to  Chicago,  and  thence  over  the  Northern 
Pacific  t(^  Tacoma,  we  next  secured  a  drawing-room  on 
the  Pullman  car  to  Chicago,  and  telegraphed  to  that 
city  to  secure  one  to  Minneapolis  (whei'e  we  intended 
to  remain  over  one  day).  We  next  had  our  two  trunks 
taken  from  our  house  at  Eighty-sixth  Street  and  Fifth 
Avenue  the  day  before  we  started  and  checked  through 
to  Minneapolis  by  the  Pennsylvania  Kailroad  Company 
for  fifty  cents  each ;  which,  I  think,  was  the  gi'eatest 
amount  of  comfort  and  relief  from  anxiety  that  I  ever 
purchased  for  a  dollar  in  my  life,  especially  ^vhen  I 


4  A    nVA/A.VS   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

found  tlieiu  siit'ely  awaiting  our  comiug  in  that  city, 
i-ead}'  to  be  checked  tlirougli  to  Tacoma  at  do  ad- 
ditioDal  cost.  (lu  fact  I  subsequently  learned  that 
they  could  have  been  checked  thi'ough  the  whole  dis- 
tance from  my  residence  to  Puget  Sound  for  half  a 
dollar  each,  if  I  had  so  desired.^ 

At  2  P.M.,  May  13,  1890,  I  find  myself  in  the  train 
at  Jersey  Cit}-^,  westward  bound  for  our  destination — 
Alaska.  At  Philadelphia  we  wait  five  minutes,  where 
you  meet  me  for  good-bye  and  hon  'voyage.,  to  say 
nothing  about  a  delicious  box  of  bon-bons,  and  then  I 
settle  down  to  make  luyself  comfortable  for  the  first 
day's  journey.  A¥e  have  a  charming  little  compart- 
ment, one  of  those  Pullman  m,ultu7)i-i'n-parvo''':i  ^v\\\<A\ 
American  ingenuity  and  good  taste  have  contrived  to 
make  a  long  journey  a  hope  instead  of  a  fear ;  a  par- 
lor and  dressing-room,  where  we  lounge  peaceful!)'  and 
enjoyably  with  our  books  and  oui'  newspapers.  1  am, 
of  course,  immensely  absorbed  in  reading  up  the  latest 
authorities  on  Alaska,  my  land  of  years  of  promise  and 
hope,  and,  now  that  my  dream  is  being  realized,  I  pro- 
ceed to  delve  into  the  most  recent  literature  upon  the 
subject.  Though  darkness  came  much  cpiicker  than  it 
was  welcome,  still  we  had  an  opportunity  by  daylight 
of  admiring  the  beautiful  valleys  and  hill-sides  of  Lan- 
caster County,  Pennsylvania,  all  dressed  in  their  spring 
attire,  and  although  we  lost  a  view  of  poor  Johnstown 
and  the  ''  Horseshoe  "  on  the  Alleghanies,  yet  next  day 
until  five  o'clock,  ^vhen  we  reached  Chicago,  there  was  a 
constant  variety  of  interesting  landscape,  which  was  most 


CHICAGO.  5 

enjoyable,  thougli  there  was  little  of  it  whicli  lingered  in 
my  memory  in  the  august  presence  of  nature's  wonders 
in  Alaska.  A  five-hours'  break  at  Chica2:o  afforded  us 
an  opportunity  to  freshen  m^  and  get  a  good  dinner  at 
the  Richelieu,  a  capital  hotel,  nicely  situate  on  Lake 
Michigan,  where,  during  my  meal,  a  couple  of  my 
nouveaux-riches  countrymen,  \\\o  in  England  would 
be  called  "  cads,"  unintentionally  afforded  me  a  o-reat 
deal  of  fun.  One  of  them  who  wore  a  dress-suit,  a 
diamond  shirt-stud,  and  a  watch-chain  of  most  attract- 
ive proportions,  insisted  that  he  must  have  a  gargon 
who  spoke  French,  and  this  article  being  supplied, 
lie  commenced  discussius:  the  menu  in  the  very  worst 
French  I  ever  heard,  and  in  so  loud  a  voice  that  he 
impressed  those  who  did  not  know  better,  that  he  was 
some  remarkable  personage ;  when,  however,  he  se- 
lected the  vintage  and  bi-and  of  his  rouge  vin  as  he 
called  it,  I  am  afraid  my  outbreak  of  merriment  was 
observed  ;  it  certainly  was  by  the  Avaiter,  who  felt  at 
once  relieved  of  the  hig-h  strain  of  dio-nified  reserve  to 
which  he  had  nerved  himself,  and  fairly  guffawed. 
But  the  climax  came  when,  in  the  midst  of  the  meal, 
another  waiter  entered  and  grasped  our  distingue 
stranger  by  the  hand,  with  a  "  Say,  wlien  did  you  get 
back  ? "  from  which  I  presumed  that  our  Franco- 
maniac  had  just  returned  from  a  European  "  tower.'' 
I  regret  to  say  that  from  that  moment  the  dialo^'ue  of 
les  deux  amis  was  continued  in  home-spun  English  of 
a  quality  as  inferior  as  the  Frencb,  but  the  criticism 
of  the  viands,  and  the  elevation  (^f  the  bordeaux  to  the 


6  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

electric  light  to  test  its  color,  were  maintained  to  tlie 
end  of  the  feast ;  yet  I  think  my  broiled  chicken  and 
Milwaukee  beer  (vintage  of  1890)  were  fully  as  well 
appreciated.  The  whole  thing  brought  vividly  to  my 
uiiud  Mrs.  William  Florence  in  oue  of  those  inimitable 
characters  in  which  she  constantly  apologizes  for  her 
inability  to  suppress  the  impulse  to  frenchify,  as,  for 
instance,  ''  Now,  my  dear,  s'asseoi]'  right  here  ;  excuse 
my  French,  but  you  know  I've  lived  so  long  abroad." 
Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  refer  to  such  trifles  ;  yet  they 
are  the  incidents  which  will  l)e  met  with  on  a  trip  of 
this  character,  and  serve  to  illustrate  the  different 
phases  of  American  life. 

Leaving  Chicago  at  10  p.m.,  May  14th,  ^ve  arrived  in 
Minneapolis  at  four  next  afternoon,  and  stopped  at  the 
AVest  House,  a  really  superb  hotel,  unexcelled  any- 
Avhere  I  liave  ever  been.  I  don't  know  whether  to 
commend  most  the  amiable  and  painstaking  host,  the 
excellent,  spacious,  and  well-furnished  rooms,  capital 
laundry,  or  the  admirable  arrangement  of  the  ro- 
tunda, ^vith  its  beautiful  galleries,  where  the  women 
walk  or  sit  after  dinner,  gazing  down  at  their  liege 
lords  below,  swopping  wheat  and  stocks  and  yarns. 
The  wealth  and  growth  of  this  inland  city  are  due 
chiefly  to  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  the 
inunense  flour  mills,  located  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississi])pi  River,  which  receive  their  motive  power 
from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  their  supply  of 
grain  from  the  fertile  fields  of  spring  wheat  in  the 
States  of  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Dakota.     There 


MINNEA  POL  IS.  7 

are  twenty-three  of  these  mills,  several  of  them  built  of 
OTanite,  of  a  clozeii  or  more  stories  in  heif^ht,  and  of 
imposing  architectural  design  ;  having  a  capacity,  I  am 
told,  to  manufacture  thirty-seven  thousand  barrels  of 
ilour  each  day,  and  actually  producing  annually  be- 
tween six  and  seven  millions  of  barrels,  of  which  tw^o 
millions  are  shipped  away  to  provide  the  staff  of  life 
in  foreign  lands.  Visitors  are  welcome  at  all  times,  and 
are  treated  \\\i\\  the  utmost  courtesy  by  pi'oprietors 
and  emj)loyes.     I  recognized  my  favorite  brand,  and 

followed  the 
processes  of 
its  manufac- 
ture with  ex- 
treme iiiter- 
e'^t,  from  the 
emptying  of 
the  freight 
contain- 


-    -:-  "kts??. 


HOME    OK    HON.    \V.    K.    WASHBURN',    MINNEAPOLIS. 


8  A    WOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

iug  the  freshly  threshed  wheat,  tlirough  all  the  details 
of  griuding,  cleansing,  and  sifting,  until  it  finally 
reached  the  muslin  bag,  and  was  sewed  up  and 
stamped. 

Minneapolis  is  still  in  her  "  teens,"  but  as  beautiful  as 
she  is  youthful,  and,  I  am  told,  has  determined  to  make 
her  debut  this  year  as  a  rival  to  her  elder  sister,  the  en- 
terprising St.  Paul.  While  here  we  Avere  the  guest  of 
our  friend,  Mr.  T.  L.,  who  played  the  host  en  vrai 
prince,  placing  us  in  his  phaeton,  behind  a  pair  of  very 
rapid  jet  blacks,  thus  giving  us  an  opportunity  of  see- 
ing in  a  few  houi's  what  it  would  have  taken  us  days 
to  discover  for  ourselves.  I  was  fairly  amazed  at  the 
palatial  I'esidences;  with  the  exception  of  perhaps  half 
a  dozen  houses,  New  York  has  nothing  comparable  in 
the  way  of  bold  and  tasteful  architecture,  combined 
with  great  solidity;  the  variety  and  combinations  of 
colored  stone  particularly  struck  me,  especially  a  re- 
markable blending  of  green  and  cream  colors  in  one 
house  yet  unfinished,  the  unfortunate  owner  having 
come  to  grief  during  its  construction.  Its  ai'chitecture 
was  of  the  highest  art,  and  I  hojje  yet  to  see  it  in  its 
completed  magnificence.  Perhaps  the  effect  of  these 
grand  edifices,  each  built  upon  its  own  separate  acre 
with  its  carpet  of  lawn  and  flower-beds,  upon  an  eye 
accustomed  to  rows  of  brick  and  brown  stone,  is 
exaggerated  as  to  the  beauty  of  design  and  structure, 
nevertheless  the  Minneapolis  homes  impressed  me  with 
their  splendor,  and  I  cannot  help  feeling  it  is  the  most 
charming  city  I  have  ever  visited. 


2[fNNEAPOLJS. 


Next  day  we  made  the  tour  of  the  chain  of  lakes 
which,  with  the  siiiTounding  land,  constitute  the  peo- 
ple's pleasure-ground,  or  public  park.  Lakes  Harriet 
and  Calhoun  are  exquisite  sheets  of  water  bordered  by 
\\ide  and  well-made  boulevards  and  groves  of  trees;  in 
fact,  only  just  a  sufficient  contribution  of  art  to  preserve 
the  beautiful  g;ifts  of  nature,  ^vhich  is  a  o-reat  comfort 
in  a  world  so  given  to  strained  efforts  to  compete  with 
the  Creator;  yet  ^vhere  the  handicraft  and  taste  of  man 
are  essential,  as  in  the  construction  of  their  massive 
public  buildings,  the  people  of  Minneapolis  are  unsur- 
passed. The  churches,  libraries,  banks,  city  buildings, 
office  buildings,  and  newspaper  offices  have  a  most 
assured  fire-proof  and  age-proof  effect.  The  building  of 
the  Guarantee  Company  is  wonderful:  I  ^vas  amazed 
when  told  that  it  had  been  commenced  only  a  year  ago, 
yet  it  has  eleven  stories,  and  is  constructed  upon  the 
highest  principles  of  architecture  as  to  light,  air 
and  strength ;  there  seemed  to  be 
nothing  about  it  that  had  not  its 
raison  (Vttre.  The  view  of  the 
surrounding  country  from  the 
top  of  it  is  simply  superb,  reach- 
ing to 

"  Where  the  Falls  of  Minnehaha 
Flash  and  gleam  among  the  oak 

trees. 
Laugh  and  leap  into  the  valley." 


CHAPTER  II. 


,'^% 


T  live  ill  the  afternoon,  May  16tli, 
we  onee  more  find  ourselves  in  a 
Pnllinan  (li'awiuo:-r<)oiii,  and  as  we 
liave  now  to  settle  down  for  a 
tliree  days'  jonrney,  it  seems  toustliat 
tlie  apartment  has  been  made  even 
more  cose>'  than  the  one  which  broiio;ht 
us  from  New  York  ;  at  all  events,  it  has 
every  thing  that  the  most  fastidious 
person  could  wish  for,  and  when  I  com- 
pared it  with  the  chilly,  comfortless 
coaches  in  which  I  have  been  doomed 
to  spend  hours  in  Italy  and  Eastern 
Europe,  I  felt  that  those  who  gruml)le  at  the  little  co)}- 
tre-temps  that  sometimes  happen  even  in  the  wonderful 
Pullman  system  are  a  most  unreasonable  set :  onr  com- 
partment is  a  cute  little  salon  by  day,  where  we  are 
happy  in  the  dolce  far  iiiente^  with  our  books,  or  in 
writing  to  those  at  home.  We  have  every  convenience, 
a  cheerful  and  obliging  porter,  and  when  the  white- 
jacketed  waiter  announces  "  supper  is  now  ready  in  the 
dining-car,"  we   simply  ^valk   through   the  vestibuled 


TLIR  COM  I' CRTS  OF  TRAVEL.  ii 

passage-way  to  the  next  car  and  are  politely  ushered  to 
a  tea  wliich  would  have  done  credit  to  any  home  in  the 
land.  Just  tliink  of  a  broiled  salmon  steak,  excellent 
and  well-cooked  chops,  delicious  ^vaffles,  strawberries, 
capital  tea,  and  lots  of  other  good  things,  if  you  preferred 
them,  all  for  seventy-five  cents  ;  add  to  this,  if  you 
\vish,  a  pint  of  Zinfandel  (a  California  claret),  and  one 
dollar  pays  the  bill.  I  really  become  so  content  and 
restful  that  I  feel  I  could  live  here  a  month.  Perhaps 
the  men  on  the  train  miss  their  clubs  in  the  evening, 
their  billiards,  or  their  rubber ;  but,  as  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, I  am  happy  that  there  are  no  shops,  no  dinner 
parties,  theatres,  or  balls.  I  live  to  confess  that  I  do 
not  miss  tliem.  Think  of  it,  I  retire  at  nine  o'clock, 
and  sleep  peacefully  until  eight.  I  have  but  one 
arriere  pensee,  one  nightmare  :  will  I  grow  fat  on  this 
calm,  heart-full,  and  stomach-full  life  ?  Yes,  I  have 
another :  Avill  the  id^iquitous  teu-months-old  baby 
(there  is  always  one  to  each  car)  yell  in  the  night  be- 
tween the  intervals  of  paregoric  ? 

It  is  Saturday  morning.  May  17th,  and  I  have  slept 
deliciously  ;  if  the  baby  cried  I  was  too  unconscious  to 
observe  it,  but  al)out  four  in  the  mornins;  I  was  awak- 
ened  by  a  change  in  the  temperature  ;  it  had  become 
intensely  cold,  and  I  made  good  use  of  the  exti-a 
blanket.  Upon  arising  I  find  we  are  out  on  the  tree- 
less prairie,  coated  with  a  light  fall  of  snow.  For  I 
should  think  two  hundred  miles  we  travel  on  in  a 
straight  line  across  this  vast  expanse  of  plain  with  no 
speck  of  foliage  excepting  here  and  there  \vhere  the 


12  .1  iro.i/.i.vs  iRir  yv  ma  ska. 

settler  is  making  :i  fruitless  effort  t<>  raise  a  few 
sti'ipliugs ;  yet  I  am  told  that  in  a  month  these 
thousands  of  acres  will  be  fresh  and  green  with  the 
young  spj'ing  wheat,  and  what  no^\-  is  an  uninteresting 
barren  waste  will  then  be  a  veritable  cornucopia. 
What  care  I  if  the  e}e  does  tire  of  the  monotony  of 
the  plain,  the  horizon,  and  the  occasional  farmdiouse  { 
it  can  turn  to  the  little  di'essino;-room  with  its  ever\' 
convenience,  its  finely  bevelled  mirrors,  tank  of  ice- 
Avater,  marble  basin  with  hot  and  cold  Avater,  and 
silver  spigots,  little  shelves  and  trays  in  carved 
mahogany,  adaptable  to  all  the  many  necessities  of  a 
woman's  toilet;  a  little  hijou,  which  surely  no  man 
ever  designed,  unless  he  was  a  very,  very  much  mar- 
ried man.  Breakfast  at  nine — strawberries  and  cream, 
brook  trout,  broiled  spring  chicken,  first-rate  coffee. 
Think  of  it,  and  rememl^er  the  old  days,  when  Ave  had 
to  be  elbowed  and  trod  upon  by  rude  men  in  the  rush 
to  get  to  the  counter  of  the  wayside  station  and  choke 
or  scald  ourselves  in  the  effort  to  bring  on  an  attack 
of  dyspepsia  before  the  conductor  should  shout  ''  All 
aboard  !  "  Think  of  doing  this  on  hot  days,  on  cold 
days,  on  rainy  days,  and  on  slippery  days,  and  then  com- 
pare it  with  the  decent,  respectable,  healthful  method 
of  to-day :  a  table  for  two,  take  your  own  time, 
rational  meal,  and  the  train  carrying  you  on  to  your 
destination  at  thirty  miles  an  hour ;  is  n't  it  grand  ? 
Breakfast  finished,  we  find  ourselves  at  Bismarck  at 
10  A.M.,  Avhere  the  train  stops  long  enough  to  permit  us 
to  take  a  stroll  upon  the  platform  and  look  at  a  busy 


BISMARCK. 


13 


town  built  up  on  the  trade  incident  to  the  great  wheat 
country  of  which  it  is  the  centre.  Here  we  hjse  the 
society  of  two  sisters  of  charity,  who  have  been 
passengers  from  Minneapolis,  bound  on  an  errand  of 
mercy.  I  am  sorry  they  leave  us,  for  I  feel  better 
always  for  the  influence  of  their  presence  ;  much  as 
our  faiths  differ  I  have  reason  to  have  an  immense 
regard,  respect,  and  admiration  for  these  dear  good 
women,  whose  lives  are  full  of  sacrifice,  immolation  of 
self,  and  jiurity  of  heart.  Bismarck  is  full  of  proud 
and  tender  memories  for  me.  Seven  years  ago  I  leaned 
upon  the  arm  of  our  great  hero  General  Grant  there 
as  we  walked  together  to  the 
ceremony  of  dedicating  the 
State  House,  followed  by  a 
column  of  distinguished  men, 
among  whom  were  Mr.  Yil- 
iard,  Mr.  Evarts,  members  of 
the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and 
others  who  were  en  route  to 
the  laying  of  the  last  rail  to 
complete  the  great  highway 
from  St.  Paul  to  the  Pacific. 
Then,  I  rode  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains  in  stages,  ate  terrible  meals  with  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  slept  in  the  woods,  got  wet  and  dusty, 
frozen  and  l)r()iled,  accoi'ding  to  the  altitude  to  which 
we  climbed,  or  from  which  Ave  descended,  and  was 
more  fatigued  at  the  expiration  of  my  four  days'  jolt 
than  I  would  be  in  a  Pullman  car  in  a  month.     It  was 


H 


A    IFOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


on  this  occasion  at  Bismarck  that  I  was  witness  to  an 
episode  which  is  worth  recording.  Sitting  Bull  and 
his  chiefs,  but  recently  stained  ^ith  the  blood  of  poor 
Custer  and  his  intrepid  band  of  follovv^ers,  were  osten- 
tatiously and  indecorously  paraded  upon  the  2)latf()]'iu 
erected  for  the  speakers,  and  Sitting  Bull  conunenced 
a  harangue  in  his  native  tongue,  which  was  being  in- 
terpreted, when  the  crowd  below,  no^v  assembling  and 
realizing  \vhat  ^v^as  taking  place,  drove  him  with  yells 
and  hisses  to  the  rear  and  called  Grant  to  the  front.  I 
was  in  entire  sympathy  ^vith  the  crowd.  The  picture 
of  the  handsome  Custer  with  his  red  scarf,  as  he  dashed 
along  Pennsylvania  Avenue  on  his  runaway  horse  at 
the  grand  review  in  AYashington  in  1865,  was  before 
me,  and  so  ^vas  his  murderer.     There  Av^as  but  one  side 

to  such  a  ques- 
tion. At  all 
events  I  can- 
not work  my- 
self up  to  any 
sympathy  for 
the  Indian.  I 
have  seen  the 
no])le  red  man 
at  home,  Avith 
his  filth  and 
his  vice,  his 
dishonesty,  his 
cunning,  and 
A  BRIEF  HALT.    {KodaU d by  Atdhor.)  liis  general  uu- 


HAND  AN  AND   THE  BAD  LANDS.  15 

reliability,  and  I  am  among  those  wlio  believe  he  should 
be  coerced  into  o-ood  behavior  and  not  tolerated  as  he  is. 
Leaving  Bismarck  we  cross  the  muddy  Missouri  on  a 
new  iron  ])ridge,  and  in  twenty  minutes  are  at  Mandan, 
where  a  chano-e  of  locomotives  and  conductors  necessi- 
tates  a  halt  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  giving  us  a  chance 
to  visit  a  curiosity  shop  of  stuifed  birds  and  beasts  at 
stuffed  prices,  but  as  I  have  no  use  for  these  dust-  and 
moth-catchers  in  my  household,  they  tempt  me  not. 
Shortly  we  reach  the  "  bad  lands."  I  think  the  name 
belies  them,  for  in  addition  to  their  l)eing  weird,  pictur- 
es(pie,  and  puzzling,  they  are  good  grazing  lands,  as 
I  myself  can  testify,  if  good  fat  herds  of  cattle  afford 
any  proof.  The  topography  is  of  the  most  marvellous 
formation,  and  the  colors  are  equally  wonderful :  here 
you  see  an  ashy-gray  hill  of  elephantine  form,  there  a 
red  cone  as  perfect  as  though  just  from  the  moulder's 
hands,  again  a  pyramid,  and  then  dozens  of  cones  and 
pyramids,  and  this  continues  for  a  hundred,  nay,  two 
hundred  miles.  Often  these  quaint  forms  recall  to 
mind  scenes  in  other  lands :  once  from  the  car-window 
I  recognized  on  tliis  arid  desert  the  tomb  of  Cecilia 
Metella  on  the  Appian  Way,  with  its  beehive  formation 
and  its  battlements.  Now"  and  then  you  recognize 
wdiat  you  believe  to  be  an  extinct  volcano  with  lumps 
of  scoria  at  its  base,  yet  this  may  be  only  the  slag  or 
refuse  of  the  burning  lignite,  w^hich  is  fre(piently 
found  and  sometimes  mined  among  these  hills.  AVhat 
struck  me  as  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  this  won- 
derful and  enigmatic  formation,  ^vas  a  series  of  well 


1 6  A    UVJ/AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

delined  lioi'i/oiital  lines,  a  foot  or  two  apart,  which 
invariably  marked  the  mounds  or  buttes,  very  much 
resembling  the  lines  made  upon  the  shore  of  a  river  by 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide.  Now  I  am  not  a  geologist, 
nor  gifted  Avith  much  antediluvian  or  prehistoric  lore, 
nor  have  I  I'ead  any  scientist's  ideas  of  what  I  am 
describing,  but  to  me  it  looks  as  if  at  some  very 
remote  period  this  entire  region  was  the  bottom 
of  one  or  more  fresh-water  lakes  as  large  as  Lakes 
Michigan  and  Erie,  or  as  small  as  those  which  cover 
acres  of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  and  that  by  some 
process  of  evaporation,  or  by  leakage  or  failure  of 
supply,  they  gradually  dried  up,  leaving  these  water- 
marks upon  tlie  hill-sides  to  denote  the  periods  of 
transition.  At  all  events  fossilized  fish  and  shells  are 
found  here  in  abundance,  and  it  is  said  that  irrigation 
will  make  the  soil  productive.  While  1  am  thinking 
of  it,  how^ever,  and  perhaps  wasting  my  time  in  conject- 
ui-e,  we  stop  at  Medora.  Here  is  the  wreck  of  a  once 
thriving  plant  and  settlement  founded  by  Marcpiis  de 
Mores,  the  husl)and  of  one  of  New  York's  I'icli  l)elles, 
who  conceived  the  idea  that  he  could  establish  and  suc- 
cessfully carry  on  at  this  place  tlie  business  of  raising 
and  slaughtering  cattle  and  sending  the  meat  in  refrigera- 
tor-cars to  Eastern  markets.  He  built  a  neat  home, 
which  can  be  plainly  seen  from  the  train,  but  after  a 
serious  altercation  Avitli  some  of  the  cowboys,  I'esulting 
in  a  traged}",  in  which  tlie  Mar(piis  bore  himself  with 
considerable  gallantry  and  nerve,  he  ultimately  aban- 
doned the  scheme  and  left  the  country.     Yet  I  am  told 


MARQUIS  DK  MORES'  SCHEME. 


17 


by  tlie  people  wlio  should  know  best,  tliat  his  plan  was 
an  excellent  one,  and  will  yet  be  carried  out  successfully, 
but  lack  of  business  experience  and  tact  ^^■as  the  real 
cause  of  his  failure.  He  established  the  fju-t,  h()^vever, 
that  cattle  wouLl  fatten  here,  and  that  they  could 
readily  be  prepared  for  safe  shipment  to  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  or  ''  from  ranch  to  table,"  as  the  Marcpiis 
epigrammatically  styled  it.  He  was  a  pioneer,  and, 
like  many  others,  perhaps  a  little  ahead  of  his  time. 


HOME   OF   THE   MARQUIS   DE  MORES.      {KodaFd  hy  Author.) 


1 8 


A    UVJLLV'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


Looking  at  his  liouse  and  the  dismal  surroundings,  you 
cannot  lielp  congratulating  the  Marchioness  that  the 
scheme  was  a  failure.  No  wealth  would  compensate 
for  such  a  life  to  one  accustomed  to  tlie  whirl  of  the 
metropolis ;  cel^c  va  de  sol  it  ^vas  a  terrible  sacrifice. 

Another  night  of  comfortable  sleep  and  Sunday, 
May  18th,  dawns  upon  tis  Just  as  a  spring  day  ought 
to — sunsliiny,  pleasantly  warm,  and  a  clear  sky.  This 
is  to  be  a  day  of  laud-  and  water-scape,  so  we  take  our 
catnp-stools  and  our  Kodak  to  the  rear  [Jatform  and 
feast  our  better  nature  wdth  a  repast  of  the  sublime 
and  l)eautiful  approach  to  the  foot-hills  of  tlie  Rocky 
Mountains.  Here  we  have  dashes  of  scenery  to  de- 
light the  most  exacting  artistic  taste — mountain  and 
ravine,  valley  and  stream  ;  in  fact,  for  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours  the  track  follows  the  meandering  course  of 
the  great  Yellowstone  River,  ^vith  its  rapids  and  water- 
falls, its    precipitous   l)anks   and   rock-l)ound    canyons, 


its  Indians  and  its  cowl)oys, — an  ever-changing  whirl 
of  panorama,  through  ^vhich  we  pass  so  rapidly  that 
before  the  oft-repeated  echo  of  our  shrill  whistle  has 


THE   YELLOWSTONE  PARK. 


19 


died  away  upon  a  scene  of  encliantment,  another  still 
more  beautiful  surrounds  us,  eft'acing  all  recollection 
of  its  predecessor,  till  the  admiring  eye  and  hungry 
soul  become  satiated  with  a  kaleidoscopic  confusion  of 
the  sul)lime.  Asked  now  to  select  some  gem  for  an 
artist  from  among  it  all,  I  should  fail ;  I  couhl  not  par- 
ticularize an}^  special  locality.  If  I  had  taken  photo- 
graphs one  upon  top  of  the  other  every  live  minutes  of 
that  delightful  day,  and  then  made  one  composite  pict- 
ure of  the  whole,  it  might  faintly  convey  an  idea  of 
nature  decked  with  her  pnrple  I'obes  and 
sceptre  as  it  lingei's  in  my  memory  while 
I  Avrite. 

At  nine  in  the  morning  Ave  reach  Livings- 
ton, and  here  I  experience  the  first  and  only 
disappointment  of  my  trip.      This   is  the 
entrance  to  the  Yellowstone  Park.     Seven 
years  ago  I  left  the  train  at  this  point  and 
went  off  on  the  little  branch  road  t<^  Cinna- 
bar, and  thence  seven  or  eight  miles  in  a 
stage  to  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs.     Oh, 
ye  geysers,  and  you  lovely  canyon,  with 
your  marvellous  waterfall,  must  I  pass  you 
all  by  as  I  hurry  on  to  Alaska  ?     Alas,  the 
ship  will  be  waiting  for  me  at  Tacoma,  and 
I  have   promised  to  be  there. 
Dear  old  Yellowstone  Park,  I    [^ 
see    plainly     your     snow-clad 
mountains,   I  almost  hear  the 
roar  of    your    hot    fountains ; 


'OLD   FAITHFUL. 


YELLOWSTONE   FALLS. 


"  OLD  FAITHFULr 


21 


"  01(1  Faitlifurs  ''  [unictu.'il  coining  and  going  is  en- 
titled to  better  treatment  than  I  am  giving  liim,  yet  I 
cannot  tarry.  Gladly  would  I  walk  there  to  feast  upon 
those  bright  colors  unseen  and  unheard  of  else\vdiere. 
Oh,  for  one  look  from  the  summit  into  the  deep  abyss 
whei-e  soars  the  eagle,  and  for 
an  honr  beside  those  fathomless 
lakes  of  emerald  mirrors  and 
morning  glories.  But  it  must 
not  be.  I  am  exploring  new 
fields.  Au  revolt'^  my  old  friend 
— so  near  and  yet  so  far ;  if  my 
life  is  spared  I  have  not  seen  you 
for  the  last  time ;  and  yet  we  are 
such  creatures  of  circumstances 
and  conditions  that  I  feel  like 
exclaiming  "  Lasciate  ogni  spe- 
ranza  vol  die  isrox  entratey  Only 
a  few  years  ago  I  I'ode  with 
President  Arthur,  and  Gen- 
eral Sheridan,  and  x\nson  Stager,  and  Captain  Clarke, 
through  the  lanes  and  across  the  rivers  of  this  wonder 
land.  All  gone  !  Yes,  this  hour  is  one  of  sad  memories 
and  disappointments  ;  let  me  get  back  to  the  train  and 
leave  the  past  Ijehind.  From  Livingston  and  through 
the  Bozeman  tunnel  \ve  arrive  at  Helena,  the  most 
thriving  and  populous  city  of  Montana,  located  in  the 
centre  of  one  of  the  richest  minino;  resfions  in  the 
country.  I  spent  some  days  there  upon  my  previous 
visit,  and  spent  them  very  uncomfortably  ;   the  accom- 


22  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

modatioiis  were  uot  fit  for  man  or  beast,  much  less  for 
woman.  All  this,  however,  has  changed  since  the  com- 
pletion of  the  railroad,  and  it  now  boasts  of  an  admi- 
rable hotel  (the  Broadwater)  and  a  luxurious  and  mam- 
moth bathing-house.  Leaving  Helena  we  enter  upon 
that  wonderful  system  of  railroad  engineering  ^vhich,  I 
am  told,  is  almost  unequalled ;  here  we  commence  the 
real  ascent  of  the  Rockies,  circling  around  the  sides  of 
the  snow-capped  hills  and  leaping  from  crag  to  crag, 
over  trestle  bridges  of  dizzy  heights  and  wonderful 
construction,  culminating  in  the  Mullen  tunnel,  which 
marks  the  summit,  and  emerging  upon  a  l)eautiful  valley 
just  at  sunset ;  abandoning  the  extra  locomotive  and  rat- 
tling along  at  a  lively  pace  on  a  down  grade  to  Grarrison, 
where  there  is  a  branch  road  to  Deer  Lodge,  a  beauti- 
ful little  town  with  a  nice,  clean,  well  kept  hotel, 
which  gave  me  shelter  and  rest  after  my  stage  ride 
over  the  mountains  in  1888,  and  thence  to  Butte  and 
Anaconda,  famous  for  their  rich  copper  and  silver 
mines.  At  this  point  (Garrison's),  therefore,  we  lost 
many  of  our  convpagnons  de  voyage,  who  were  destined 
for  some  of  these  places,  and  several  of  them  to  Salt 
Lake  City. 

To-day,  in  the  dining-car,  we  were  treated  to  a  din- 
ner which  would  have  done  credit  to  any  first-class 
hotel  in  America,  and  which  surpassed  a  great  many 
dinners  I  have  eaten  in  such  so-called  hostelries.  I 
preserved  the  tJiemti  and  here  it  is  in  full : 


SYSTIUr  OF  IRRTGA  TION.  23 

DINNER,  SUNDAY,  MAY  i8,  1890. 

I'otage  a  la  Crc'cy,  Consomme  Macaroni, 

Filet  of  Trout  Princesse, 

Potatoes,  Dauphine, 

Cucumbers,  Radishes,  Olives, 

])oiled  Ox  Tongue, 

Crenadins  of  V'eal,  Ncapolitaine, 

Kromeskies  of  Lobster,  a  la  Russe, 

Peach  Fritters,  wine  sauce, 

Roast  Beef,  browned  potatoes. 

Roast  Chicken,  stuffed, 

Cura9oa  Punch, 

Roast  English  Snipe, 

Boiled  Potatoes,  Lima  Beans,  Cauliflower, 

Mashed  Potatoes,  Stewed  Tomatoes,  New  Beets, 

Lettuce  Salad, 

F'ruit  Pudding,  Sauce  Labayon, 

Rhubarb  Pie,  Whortleberry  Pie, 

Vanilla  Ice  Cream,  Fruit,  Assorted  Cakes, 

Edam  Cheese,  French  Coffee,  Nuts. 

If  passengers  are  not  served  to  their  satisfaction,  the  fact  should 
be  reported  to  the  dining-car  conductor. 

All  meals  75  cents. 

I  assure  you  it  tasted  just  as  good  as  it  reads,  and  I  en- 
joyed it  thorouglily,  epicure  as  I  am.  The  country  we 
are  now  passing  througli — that  is,  between  Livingston 
and  Missoula,  is  a  "  dry  section."  It  seldom  rains  liere, 
and  though  the  rivers  and  creeks  I'un  full,  they  are  cliieHy 
dependent  upon  the  melting  snows  in  tlie  mountains 
for  their  su[)])ly  of  \\ater.  This  gaYe  us  an  opportunity 
to  see  the  method  of  irrigation  adopted  by  the  farmer  to 
water  liis  croj)s  ;  it  consists,  as  far  as  I  could  discover,  in 
damming  uj)  the  streams  and  carrying  the  water  from  tlie 
pools  thus  formed  in  little  ditches  to  the  grain  fields; 
but  the  pools  are  only  tapped  at  intervals  wlienever  the 
ground  needs  moisture,  and  I  was  told  by  an  irrevei'ent 
passenger  that  this  is  a  far  more  reliable  system  than 
that  provided  by  nature  in  the  shape  of  rain.  Un- 
fortunately the  run  west  from  Missoula  was  made  at 


24 


A    IFOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


iiiglit,  and  I  was  deprived  of  tlie  satisfaction  of  once 
more  eiijoyiug  a  sight  of  the  wonderful  trestles  which 
cross  the  ravines  over  which  our  train  passes  in  its 
descent  to  the  western  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains; 
one  of  them,  the  Marent  ti'estle,  which  bridges  the 
mountains  across  the  Coriaca  defile,  being  two  hundred 
and  twenty -six  feet  high ;  Avhich  is  best  realized  by  look- 
ing at  the  houses  and  occupants  t)f  the  ranch  imme- 
diately beneath  it,  \\\\o  present  very  tiny  specimens  of 
architecture  and  hunmnity.  I  am  glad  that  all  these 
structures  are  now  l)uilt  of  sul)stantial  iron  ;  for  on  my 
previous  visit  the  creaking  of  the  timbers  under  the 
weight  of  our  heavy  train  was  any  thing  but  pleasant. 


^■k 

.  ..  _-.      - -.  -  -^~  -  ■— :^.;  =  —  ;^j.?^^-.v'*v   -^s" ■-*■•*""*■  ^^'^TSj 

'Z^^^^^-.^  -fer^fiJj^^sS.  ^^ 

i 

W.. 

1  .    -^ 

i^r^^^'^''^'^-^^-*^*^-- 

MAKENT  TRESTLE,    226   FEET   HIGH. 


26  A    JfOJ/AX'S   TRIP   TO  ALASKA. 

Oil  the  morning  of  May  19tb,  looking  out  of  the 
window  at  my  bedside,  I  found  myself  emerging  from 
tlie  rocky  scenery  of  Clark's  Fork,  and  afterward 
traversino;  the  edge  of  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water ;  so 
liurryiug  with  my  toilet,  I  was  soon  out  on  the  I'ear 
platform  absorbed  in  the  charms  of  a  panorama  en- 
tirely unlike  the  wild  rugged  mountain  scenery  of  the 
day  before.  We  w^v^  now  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Pend 
d'Oreille.  Whether  it  gets  its  name  from  the  French 
missionaries,  who  found  the  Indians  indulging  in  tlie 
harmless  fashion  of  wearing  eai-rings,  or  \vliether  the 
Indians  named  it  themselves  after  acquiring  a  smatter- 
ing of  French,  I  know  not,  but  I  do  know  that,  though 
not  '"'■  margined  with  fruits  of  gold,"  it  ^vas,  when  I 
saw  it,  a  clear  lake,  "  glassing  softest  skies,"  and  alto- 
gether lovely ;  and  it  must  be  very  large  too,  for  we 
were  running  alongside  of  it  for  fully  two  hours.  It  is 
said  to  be  tlie  paradise  of  the  sportsman,  abounding  in 
bear,  elk,  deer,  pheasants,  wild  fowl,  and  trout,  and 
I  am  told  that  in  the  months  of  Se})tember  and 
October  the  season  is  at  its  best.  Some  of  this  big 
game,  of  course,  I  was  not  permitted  to  see,  Init  I 
can  vouch  for  the  trout,  which  I  have  eaten,  and 
for  the  tliousands  of  wild  ducks,  which  I  have  seen 
there.  The  town  of  Hope,  w^here  we  again  set  our 
watches  back  one  hour  for  the  third  time  on  our  trip, 
is  said  to  be  the  liead-(piarters  foi"  the  devotees  of 
gun  and  rod ;  it  j^ossesses  a  good  hotel,  experienced 
guides,  dogs,  and  all  tlie  other  mannisli  tilings  required 
on  such  occasions. 


SPOKANE  FALLS. 


27 


Tlie  next  point  of  interest  reached  is  Spokane  Falls,  and 
it  is  indeed  a  point  of  very  great  intei-est.  We  have  no^v 
left  Montana  and  are  in  the  young,  thriving  State  of 
Washington,  and  this  town — pardon  me,  I  should  have 
said  city — will  give  the  Easterner  an  idea  of  ^^•hat  can 
be  accomplished  by  an  industi'ious  colony  of  Amei'ican 
citizens  where  nature  lends  them  a  helping  hand. 
Seven  years  ago,  at  the  request  of  Messrs.  Cannon  and 


1  '  ' 

ij^rnP^^^^B 

i^ 

m 

^gm 

iKi- 

^    ^ 

r^  - 

-     -J  a   a  J 

^^:- 

■jMl^^^^ 

^2. 

WBr.'m 

ifi 

i 

s 

m^M 

SPOKANE    FALLS. 


Brown,  two  leading  citizens  of  the  place,  I  stopped 
over  here  a  fe^v  houi's  (for  we  had  a  special  train  and 
loitered  as  we  liked)  to  look  at  the  magnificent  water- 
fall. I  do  not  think  there  were  a  dozen  houses  there 
at  that  time,  yet  to-day  it  boasts  a  population  of  over 
twenty  thousand,  all  the  result  of  utilizing  the  tremen- 
dous  water-p()\ver   of   the   "falls.''     I  remember  with 


28  A    IVaJfAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

regret  that  upon  tliat  occasion  these  two  gentlemen, 
then  in  need  of  money,  though  now  millionaires,  offered 
to  sell  their  one-half  interest  in  the  watei*  and  the  siir- 
I'oiinding  land  to  your  father  for  $32,000,  but  he  did  not 
avail  himself  of  the  opportunity;  and  yet  five  years 
later  a  fi'iend  of  mine  gave  more  than  this  amount  for 
less  than  half  an  acre  of  this  same  land,  and  sold  it  at 
an  immense  profit.  Last  year  it  was  supposed  to  have 
suffered  from  an  extensive  conflagration  which  swept 
away  the  business  part  of  the  town,  but  to-day,  as 
magnificent  edifices  of  solid  masonry  are  replacing  the 
shanties  of  the  past,  the  fire  is  conceded  to  have  been 
a  blessing.  I  believe  the  day  is  near  at  hand  when 
Spokane  will  be  a  second  Minneapolis,  for  it  possesses 
both  tlie  water-powei'  and  the  crops  which  have  made 
the  latter  great.  Up  to  this  point,  for  three  whole  days 
the  eye  has  seen  so  much  that  is  new  and  startling,  that 
it  becomes  ^veary  just  when  the  scenery  grows  flat  and 
uninteresting;  in  fact  the  millions  of  acres  of  sage- 
gi'ass  and  sand  through  which  we  now  pass  affords  us 
just  the  rest  we  need.  I  never  fully  i-ealized  until 
now  how  true  is  the  saving;  that  we  may  have  "too 
much  of  a  good  thing,"  and  if  I  took  a  nap  from 
Spokane  Falls  to  Pasco,  it  was  l)ecause  1  needed  it 
and  was  not  missing  any  thing.  When  this  desert  is 
irrig^ated  and  becomes  a  o-arden  of  orchards  and  flower- 
beds,  as  is  prognosticated  by  those  who  have  the 
hardihood  and  self-denial  to  live  there,  I  am  willing  to 
stay  awake  ;  but  really  I  sa\v  nothing  worth  describing 
until  passing  through  the  promising  towns  of  North 


AMUSING  INCIDENTS.  29 

Yakima  and  Ellensburg  we  commenced  the  ascent  of 
the  Cascade  Mountains.  It  is  worthy  of  mention,  how- 
ever, that  near  Yakima  is  a  very  flourishing  irrigated 
ranch,  called  the  Moxie  Farm,  managed  by  Mr.  Ker, 
which  produces  grapes  and  other  fruit  in  great  abun- 
dance and  of  the  highest  quality,  and  has  proved  so 
successful  in  the  culture  of  tobacco  that  a  manufactory 
has  been  established  there,  which  is  turning  out  what 
the  men  call  "  a  high  grade  of  cigar." 

Monotonous  as  w^as  this  day's  trij),  there  w^ere  many  in- 
cidents W'hich  amusingly  broke  in  upon  it — for  instance, 
at  supper  w^e  found  a  sti'anger,  wdio  had  come  aboard  at 
Pasco,  looking  indigenous  to  the  soil,  agood  deal  of  ^\■hich 
he  carried  upon  his  person  ;  he  was  evidently  dazed  by 
the  society  in  wdiich  he  found  himself,  and  did  his  best 
to  adapt  himself  to  the  manners  and  customs  of  his 
fellow-passengers.  Being  handed  a  napkin,  he  care- 
fully surveyed  the  company,  and  finding  that  some  of 
the  men  had  tucked  their  bits  of  napery  in  under  their 
chins  (a  vulgar  habit,  by-the-by),  he  promptly  did  the 
same,  and  then,  entirely  unconscious  of  the  object  of 
so  placing  it,  buttoned  his  coat  over  it,  much  to  our 
delight  and  edification.  Then  he  ate  literally  of  every 
thing  on  the  bill  of  fare,  and  when  thoroughly  gorged 
stretched  himself  out  and  picked  his  teeth  with  a 
resounding  smack,  the  proud  possesser  of  a  lordly  ap- 
petite and  a  digestion  which  w^ould  make  countless 
thousands  happy.  iVnd  Just  here  is  a  good  place  to 
say  that  sometimes  coming  late  to  our  meals  we  find 
the  colored  porters  seated  at  the  tables  taking  theirs. 


A    JIVJ/A.V\S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


It  seemed  strange  at  first  to  me,  but  I  must  do  them 
the  justice  to  say  that  they  behaved  in  the  most 
decorous  manner,  neither  eating  with  tlieir  knives,  nor 
by  any  breach  of  etiquette  or  table  manners  doing  the 
slightest  thing  to  excite  criticism ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  could  give  lessons  to  many  of  the  boisterous 
gentlemen  (?)  travellers  who  constantly  jostled  us. 

Illustrating  the  straits  to  which  the  settlers  are  put 
upon  their  arrival  out  here,  I   cannot    help    sj^eakiug 

of     a    queer    little 
temporary  structure 
which  I   saw   built 
over  a  pile  of  fire- 
wood   alongside   of 
a  tool-house 
on  the  rail- 
road at  Bad- 
ger.   It  con- 
-^       sisted  of  the 
show-bill  of 
a  circus  and 

s(mie  pieces  of  old  matting  propped  up  upon  half 
a  dozen  sticks,  and  perhaps  would  not  have  attracted 
my  attention,  but  I  thought  I  sa^^'  it  move.  True 
enough,  just  as  the  train  moved  on,  a  bright  face 
emerged  fr<^m  beneath  the  show-bill,  and,  with  a 
merry  laugh,  exclaimed  "  Ah,  there  ! "  AVaving  our 
adieus  to  the  occupant  of  the  improvised  bed-tent, 
we  Avondered  how  long  it  would  take  him,  in  a  country 
like  this  ^vonderful  State  of  Washington,  to  pass  through 


THE  CASCADli  M0UX7^AIXS.  31 

the  stages  ^vhicli  sliould  ])riiig  him  to  the  otium  cum 
dignitate  of  a  (^ueeu  Aime  cottage  and  a  porch. 

Leaving  Elleusbiirg  we  realize  that  Ave  are  coming 
to  the  end  of  our  feast,  and  as  night  closes  in  on  us  we 
begin  to  look  u[)  sliawl-straps  and  grip-sacks,  as  we 
have  to  debark  early  on  the  morro^v.  Unfortunately 
the  Cascade  Mountains  were  crossed  during  the  night, 
and  we  missed  the  wonderful  feats  of  engineei'ing 
^vhi(']l  liave  made  it  possible  for  a  train  of  cars  to 
ascend  and  descend  the  Stampede  Pass.  I  have  seen  it 
liowever,  on  another  occasion.  It  is  simply  marvellous, 
and  with  the  exception  of  bits  of  the  Denver  and  Kio 
Grande  route  there  is  no  spot  on  the  continent  where 
the  majestic  work  of  the  Creator  is  so  skilfully  supple- 
mented by  the  ingenuity  of  man.  For  miles  and  miles 
you  travel  back  and  fortli  on  the  sides  of  these  im- 
mense mountains  to  accomplish  in  the  end  a  progress  of 
onh-  a  luile  or  so  in  a  straic^ht  line,  looking'  down  from 
the  car  window  on  the  right  at  the  track  you  have  just 
passed  over,  and  looking  up  from  the  window  on  the 
left  to  that  which  you  have  yet  to  surmount,  while  the 
wild  torrent  of  a  river  rushes  and  plunges  under  you 
and  over  you  and  all  around  you,  as  though  in  angry 
indignation  at  your  invasion,  and  a  million  stalwart 
firs,  immense  in  height  and  thickness,  stand  as  they 
have  stood  for  centuries  awaitino;  the  doom  whicli  the 
little  saw-mill  in  the  valley  is  preparing  for  them. 

At  the  summit  \ve  enter  the  famous  Stampede  tun- 
nel, almost  two  miles  in  length,  lit  up  by  incandescent 
lights,  in   which   Ave  are  imprisoned   for   eleven   long. 


32 


A    JJVJrAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


very  long  minutes,  and  emerge  to  get  a  good  view  of 
the  switchback  road,  which  for  the  two  years  preced- 
ing the  completion  of  the  tunnel  carried  thousands  of 
passengers  to  and  fro  over  its  perilous  timl)ers  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  life.  Here  again  we  get  a  still 
better  view  of  the  intricate  and  difficult  feats  of  en- 
o-ineering:  than  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountain,  and 

here  we  find  the  pic- 
turesque Green  River, 
which  stays  by  us  un- 
til we  reach  the  level, 
broad  Puyallup  Val- 
ley, reno-wned  for  its 
wonderful  )deld  of 
hops.  Earl}'  in  the  fall 
the  hop -fields  of  this 
prolific  valley  are  a 
charming  sight  ; — the 
lofty  vines  being  laden 
with  the  beautiful  pale- 
green  flower,  which  is 
plncked  })y  Indians 
who  come  long  dis- 
tances in  their  ca- 
noes or  on  their 
ponies  in  their  pic- 
turesque costumes 


TACOMA. 


33 


Avitli  their  ^(juaws,  papooses  and  dogs,  and  camp  like 
gypsies  by  the  roadside,  living  on  dried  game  and  fish 
which  they  bring  with  them,  and  returning  with 
enough  coin  to  provide  blankets  and  other  necessaries 
f<jr  an  entire  year. 

A¥e  arrived,  on  Tuesday  morning.  May  21st,  at  the 
city  of  Taconia.  And  just  here  let  me  say  that,  much 
as  I  wanted  to  arrive  at  the  port  from  which  sailed  the 
vessel  that  was  to  carry  me  to  Alaska,  it  was  with  sin- 
cere regret  that  I  left  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
travel  which  I  had  experienced  in  that  train  from  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


THE   WHARVES  AT  TACOMA. 


CHAPTER  HI. 


^0,-^- 


tlie  summer  of  1883  you  will 
remember  I  was  one  of  a  i)arty 
wlio  visited  Tacoma  as  the  guest 
of  Ml-.  Charles  B.  Wright,  of  Phil- 
adelpliia,  to  whose  sagacity  I  be- 
lieve the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  is  indebted  for  the  selec- 
tion of  this  spot  as  the  western 
terminus  of  this  great  highway. 
It  was  then  a  settlement  (I  cannot 
bring  myself  to  dignify  it  with 
the  name  of  town)  of  about  1,700 
peo}>le.  We  reached  it  by  rail  along  the 
grandly  picturesrpie  bank  of  the  Columbia 
River  from  Pasco  to  Portland  and  thence, 
partly  by  boat  and  partly  by  rail,  to  Puget  Sound. 
Thou2fh  I  was  not  rude  enou2;li  to  confess  it  to  m\ 
host,  I  do  not  now  hesitate  to  say  that  it  did  not 
favorably  impress  me,  and  my  thi-ee  or  four  days' 
experience  of  its  acconunodations  and  food  were  any 
thing  but  satisfactory.  Its  streets  were  unpaved  and 
dusty,  and  as  we  drove  through  its  principal  thorough- 
fare our  horses  were  compelled  to  meander  around  the 


36  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

tree-stumps,  still  marking  the  recent  existence  of  the 
primeval  forest.  There  were  then  but  three  buildings 
of  any  pretensions  in  the  place — a  pretty  Episcopalian 
church,  a  young  ladies'*  seminary,  and  a  three-story 
brick  store.  The  only  object  of  interest  Avas  the  Old 
Tacoma  saw-mill,  about  two  miles  distant,  and  the 
little  town  surrounding  it,  excepting  when  the  clouds 
lifted  now  and  then  to  give  a  view  of  Mount  Tacoma, 
which  process  of  lifting,  by-the-by,  never  took  place 
while  I  was  thei-e  at  that  time,  so  that  I  l:)egan  to  believe 
its  beautiful  lines  and  its  snowy  hood  were  all  a  myth. 
Seven  years  have  come  and  gone,  and  seven  times 
live  thousand  people  have  come  and  stayed  here  since 
then  ;  not  only  stayed  here,  but  they  have  prospered 
and  grown  rich,  and  their  wealth  is  now  invested  in 
banks,  manufactories,  storehouses,  handsome  shops, 
one  charming  hotel  and  many  others  of  less  preten- 
sions, a  univei'sity,  two  or  three  colleges,  a  dozen 
school-houses  and  as  many  churches,  a  beautiful  thea- 
tre, and  every  thing  that  goes  to  make  up  urban  life. 
Its  society  is  simply  delightful,  composed  of  people 
from  the  larger  Eastern  cities,  many  of  them  young 
married  folks,  starting  life  and  "  growing  up  with  the 
country,"  but  carrying  with  them  to  their  far  Western 
homes  such  of  the  conventionalities  and  refinements  of 
city  life  as  best  secure  the  amenities  which  are  indis- 
pensable to  well  regulated  society,  omitting  only  those 
formalities  which  chill  hospitality  and  dwarf  courtesy 
and  a;ood  breedins^  into  mechanism.  "  Come  and  dine 
with  us  to-morrow  at  seven  "  sounds  so  much  better 
and  heartier  than  "  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Status  request  the 


TACOJ/A.  37 

pleasure,"  etc.,  etc.,  and  yet  when  you  sit  down  in  one 
of  those  charmingly  furnished  homes  your  reception 
and  your  dinner  are  Just  the  same  as  you  have  ex- 
perienced in  Beacon  Street,  Fifth  Avenue,  or  Walnut 
Street.  The  china,  the  glass,  the  flowers,  the  napery, 
the  cooking,  and  the  wines  would  do  credit  to  an 
embassy  at  Washington,  and  the  guests  you  are  apt  to 
meet  will  generally  have  a  store  of  knowledge  quite  as 
gratifying  to  the  reason  as  the  viands  are  to  the  palate. 

And  what  has  brought  al)out  so  wonderful  a  trans- 
formation in  seven  short  years  i  is  the  question  which 
uatui'ally  suggests  itself  as  I  marvel  at  the  busy  throngs 
moving  to  and  fi'o,  and  listen  to  the  clatter  of  the 
mason  and  the  carpenter,  and  the  whistle  of  loc(^niotive 
and  steamboat.  Let  us  see :  standing  upon  the  prome- 
nade of  "  The  Tacoma  "  and  lookino:  out  over  Commence- 
ment  Bay,  the  first  object  to  attract  my  eye  is  the 
immense  lumber  mill  of  the  St.  Paul  and  Tacoma 
Lumber  Company,  completely  covering  a  piece  of  laud 
half  a  mile  long  at  the  mouth  of  the  Puyallu})  River, 
and  giving  enqdoyment  in  all  its  ramifications  to  five 
or  six  hundred  men.  Beneath  the  bluff  upon  which 
this  promenade  is  l)uilt,  I  hear  the  rumbling  and 
shunting  of  the  hundi-eds  of  freight  cars  laden  Avith 
stores  from  the  East,  which  are  here  distril)uted  over 
the  vast  area  of  country  known  as  ''Puget  Sound." 
Far  out  in  the  deep  \vater  are  a  dozen  or  more  large 
ships  waiting,  I  am  told,  for  their  tui-n  to  receive 
cargoes  of  lumber  or  coal  or  wheat  for  England,  Aus- 
tralia, China,  Japan,  San  Francisco,  and  South  America: 
some  of  them  have  brought  cargoes  of  tea  from  the 


38 


A    IJ'OJ/AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


Orient,  others  liave  just  discliarged  iron  rails  aiul  mer- 
cliaudise  after  a  four  iiiontLs'  voyage  arouucl  Cape 
Horu.  To  the  riglit  I  see  the  dense  smoke  and  dis- 
tinctly liear  tlie  noises  ^\  liicli  come  from  macliine-sliops 
and  foundries,  and  all  around  me  I  am  sensible  of  a 
restless  activity  pervading  the  people,  whose  lives 
seem  to  be  devoted  to  indefati arable  toil.  To  a  dweller 
in  the  East  who  has  been  tortured  by  the  sIoav  process 
of  blasting  and  digging,  of  masoniy  and  carpentry,  of 
plumbing  and  glazing  and  roofing,  of  papering  and 
frescoing,  ^vllich  postpone  one's  occupancy  of  his  new 
home  until  it  becomes  a  question  Avhether  he  will  live 
long  enough  to  get  into  it,  it  is  a  sensation  to  watch 
the  evolution  of  a  few  loads  of  plank  and  boards  into 
a  pretty  Queen  Anne  cottage,  as  happens  every  week 
in  Tacoma  ;  in  fact,  I  know  of  one  case  (that  of  Mr. 


\1L\V    ul'    lALll  IC   A\"L\U£. 


r A  COMA.  39 

and  Mrs.  C.  P.,  a  newly  inui'iie<l  couple)  where  the 
entei'prisiiig  yoiiii^^  housekeepers  were  residing  in 
their  home  in  less  than  a  fortnight  after  they  had 
selected  a  site  for  it.  I  cannot  say  they  built  it 
IVoiii  cellar  to  2:arret  in  ten  days,  for  it  had  neither 
one  nor  the  other,  but  it  had  six  rooms  and  a  porch 
and  a  shiuijle  roof,  and  was  not  only  hal)itable  but 
(piite  ''stylish."  "The  Tacoma ''  hotel  is  well  located, 
and  well  kept  in  all  those  respects  which  ai'e  independ- 
ent of  the  vicissitudes  and  vagaries  of  labor.  The 
rooms  are  well  furnished  and  so  is  the  larder,  but 
whenever  any  thing  ^vent  wrong,  either  Avith  the 
cuisine  or  the  service,  I  found  it  attributable  to  the 
difficulty  of  securing  competent  servants ;  in  fact,  this 
trouble  applies  to  all  housekeeping,  public  or  private, 
in  these  new  cities.  The  man  who  is  intelligent  enou^di 
to  make  a  first-rate  waiter  can  do  better  in  some  other 
capacit}'",  and  the  women,  I  suppose,  get  married. 
When  I  suggested  trying  the  experiment  of  girls  to 
wait  at  table,  as  I  have  seen  in  ray  travels  done  very 
successfully  elscAvhei-e,  I  was  informed  that  they  would 
have  to  be  both  very  old  and  vei-y  ugly,  for  there  was 
a  great  scarcity  of  brides. 

Decoration  Da\'  came  alouu*  ^vhile  we  wei'e  at 
Tacoma,  and  I  ^\■as  agi-eeably  surprised  at  the  laro:e 
numljer  of  the  veterans  of  the  war  who  participated 
in  the  parade,  and  the  evident  pros23erity  of  all  of 
them.  Near  the  head  of  the  column  rode  my  old 
friend,  (reneral  J.  W.  Sprague,  who.  General  Sherman 
tells  me,  was  one  of  the  vei'v  l)est  commanders  in  his 


40  A    JVOMAX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

army ;  aud  in  the  evening  it  Avas  quite  flattering  to 
hear  m}^  little  book,  "  A  AVonian's  War  Record," 
spoken  well  of  by  the  orator  of  the  day.  It  is  not 
worth  while  pausing  to  think  Avhat  would  have  been 
the  condition  of  this  great  NorthAvest  country  if  these 
brave  men  had  failed,  nor  -whether  the  Russian  eagles 
would  not  still  be  flying  at  Sitka;  ])ut  I  never  look 
upon  their  ranks  and  tattered  flags  without  a  patriotic 
sentiment  of  gratitude  for  all  they  accomplished  for  us 
and  for  posterity. 

A  few  days  may  be  well  spent  in  Taconia;  there 
are  many  interesting  and  pi'etty  things  to  see,  and  the 
distances  are  easily  overcome  by  a  system  of  electric 
I'ailways  carrying  you  in  every  direction  ;  and  let  me 
say  just  here  that  the  Western  people  from  Chicago  to 
San  Francisco  are  far  ahead  of  us  in  their  sti'eet  rail- 
ways. One  would  imagine  that  the  object  of  these 
conveyances  is  to  carry  you  to  your  destination  as  fast 
as  is  consistent  Avith  comfort  and  safety,  and  this  does 
seem  to  be  the  principle  out  AYest ;  but  in  the  East, 
for  instance  on  the  Madison  Avenue  Railway,  which  I 
am  compelled  to  use  daily,  the  speed,  if  speed  it  can 
be  called,  seems  to  l)e  res^ulated  to  fatten  the  horses 
and  afford  each  [)assenger  an  op|)ortunity  to  read  a 
novel  or  take  a  nap.  The  Ainiie  Wright  Seminary 
for  Young  Ladies  stands  upon  an  eminence  overlooking 
the  Sound,  and  has  the  reputation  of  being  an  excellent 
institution.  There  is  a  similar  school  for  young  men, 
and  one  or  two  colleges,  perhaps  universities,  main- 
tained by  religious  denominations.    To  those  who  have 


r A  COMA.  41 

a  fancy  for  machinery  and  sncli  things,  a  visit  to  the 
Ohl  Taconia  lunil)er  mill  and  the  one  facing  the  hotel 
will  repay  them.  At  the  former  T  Ih-ive  seen  huge  logs 
five,  six,  and  seven  feet  thick,  liauled  up  l)y  immense 
chains  from  the  water,  sliced  into  boards  in  a  very  few 
minutes,  and  then  rolled  into  ships  thi'ough  square 
holes  cut  in  their  sides  ex[)ressly  for  the  purpose.  A 
street  car  runs  to  this  mill  from  near  the  hotel,  and 
what  I  have  desciibed  can  be  seen  eveiy  (hiy,  and 
ought  not  to  be  missed.  By  referring  to  my  notes 
I  could  tell  you  exactly  how  many  millions  of  feet  of 
wood  ai-e  cut  here  every  year,  but  you  would  forget  it, 
as  I  have  done;  so  I  will  run  on  and  sa;\'  that  Ameri- 
can Lake  and  Lake  Steilacoom,  which  ai'e  both  on  the 
same  drive,  and  about  twelve  miles  from  the  city,  are 
well  ^vorth  a  visit,  not  only  because  of  their  intrinsic 
merit,  but  on  account  of  the  drive  over  the  prairie 
thi'ough  the  pine  groves  and  along  the  level  roads. 
But  the  grandest  sight  of  all,  and  certainly  the  most 
fascinating  north  of  San  Francisco  or  south  of  Alaska, 
is  Mount  Taconia.  I  shall  never  forget  the  sensation 
of  its  first  dawning  upon  me — about  the  third  day  1  ^vas 
in  Taconia.  We  weve  walking  along  (I  Street,  near 
the  })ark,  when  my  escort  exclaimed,  "  Look  at  Mount 
Taconia,"  pointing  in  the  direction  to  which  I  had 
looked  in  vain  from  sunrise  till  dark  in  the  hope  that 
the  lowering  clouds  would  dissolve  or  disperse  and 
open  it  up  to  view.  Looking  in  the  direction  indicated, 
my  first  impression  ^vas  one  of  disappointment.  To 
my  eye  it  was  nothing  l)ut  a  very  ordinaiy  eminence. 


42 


A    irOJ/AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


.still  eclipsed  by  a  very  impolite  wliite  cloud  whicli 
completely  masked  its  outlines.  "Isn't  it  super!)  ? "  I 
was  asked.  "Well,  really,  to  be  frank  Avitli  }'ou,"  I 
replied,  ''  I  am  terribly  disappointed."  "  Then  you 
surely  don't  see  it  as  I  see  it,"  was  the  response  ;  and 
as  I  began  to  follow  the  finger  of  my  companion  while 


MULNI    lAlU.MA. 


MOUNT  T A  COM  A.  43 

he  traced  out  tlie  mouiitaiii  and  separated  it  from  the 
clouds  ^v'hicll  still  hovered  around  it,  I  realized  that  the 
supposed  ^vllite  cloud  was  really  the  mountain  itself; 
and  as  the  atmosphere  cleared  and  the  rays  of  the  set- 
ting sun  CO  veered  its  pure  white  slopes  with  a  roseate 
glow,  I  became  ti'ansfixed  to  the  spot,  gazing  with  all 
the  wonderment  of  a  child  lookinfj;  for  the  first  time  at 
some  new  creation  he  does  not  comprehend.  ''If  I 
never  see  any  thing  else  l)ut  that,''  I  almost  breath- 
lessly exclaimed,  "  I  am  more  than  repaid  for  my  two 
trips  across  the  continent."  Beautiful  !  grand  !  majes- 
tic !  never-chancfino:  mountain  !  There  vou  have  stood, 
and  there  will  you  stand  for  all  time,  regardless  of  the 
mutations  going  on  around  you.  Civilization  may  ad- 
vance, l:)ai'barism  may  come  again,  sceptres  may  be 
shattered,  governments  may  fall  and  new  ones  rise, 
calamity  of  ^var  and  flood  may  sweep  pigmy  humanity 
from  the  earth,  l)ut  you  ^\'ill  remain  unchanged,  im- 
movable, to  survive  it  all.  It  is  not  your  curves,  nor 
your  crevasses,  your  glaciers,  your  tints,  nor  your  deep 
un melting  sno^v,  \Nliich  fill  me  with  awe  and  admira- 
ti<ui.  It  is  }'our  eternal  stability,  typical  of  all  that  is 
steadfast  in  faith,  in  love,  in  hope.  Oh,  what  a  com- 
fort to  feel  that  you  will  still  be  here  ^vhen  I  return 
from  my  visit  to  your  sisters  in  Alaska,  and  that  your 
face  will  be  Just  as  fresh,  as  glad,  and  as  houest  as  it  is 
to-day  !  Thanks,  l)eautiful  "Tacoma,"  for  remaining  out 
in  the  sunlight  and  the  moonlight  during  the  remain- 
der of  my  stay  ^vithin  sight  of  you.  How  I  envy  the 
clouds,  which  ha\'e  you  so  often  exclusively  to  them- 


44 


A    U^O MAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


selves  !  1  heed  not  tbe  whisper  ^vllit•h  tells  nie  you 
tower  nearly  15,000  feet  above  the  sea,  any  more  than 
I  would  listen  to  tlie  cynic  ^vlio  analyzed  the  features 
or  the  figure  of  jui  ideal  A\'oinan.  I  can  look  at  you 
with  the  raptures  of  Shasta,  and  AYashington,  Mount 
Blanc,  and  the  Jungfrau  still  tingling  in  my  nature, 
but  I  yield  to  ^ou  the  })alni ;  I  care  not  how  tall  or 
how  broad  )'ou  are,  or  whether  your  deep  shadows 
and  hisrh  liii-hts  are  forests,  or  rocks,  or  o'laciei's ;  to  me 
you  are  peerless  and  unrivalled,  like  the  Venus  de 
Milo,  without  prototy])e  or  antity[)e,  absolutely  unique. 


PUVALLUP    IIOF-1'ICKERS. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  steamship  Queen  was  advei'tised 
to  sail  ou  the  morning  of  Monday, 
June  2d,  at  four  o'ch)ck,  so  the  pas- 
sengers embarked  on  Sunday  evening. 
AVo  liad  ah'ead}'  informed  ourselves 
that  she  was  a  fine  vessel,  but  were 
not  prepared  for  the  treat  which 
presented  itself  as  we  drove  down  to 
the  wharf  to  find  a  large  ocean  ship, 
splendidly  illuminated  from  stem  to  stern 
with  electi'ic  lights,  awaiting  us.  Of  course 
our  curiosit}'  ^vas  excited  to  visit  all  parts 
of  the  floatins:  home  that  was  to  fui-nish  us  with 
all  the  comforts  wliich  exacting  tourists  demand, 
and  naturally  we  first  of  all  paid  our  respects  to  the 
saloon.  Here  Ave  ft)und  every  thing  in  apple-pie 
order-clean,  neat,  spacious,  and  thoroughly  comforta- 
Ijle ;  in  fact  it  was  the  couutei'part  of  the  saloon  and 
social  hall  in  the  best  of  our  transatlantic  steamers. 
There  were  three  tiers  of  state-rooms,  all  of  them  over- 
looking; the  water  and  n(Mie  of  them  beino;  ^vllat  are 
known  as  inside  I'ooms ;  a  promenade  extending  over  the 
whole  length  of  the  ship  around  the  upper  and  lower 


46  A    irOJLLVS   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

tiers,  aud  a  seat  or  bench  in  front  of  every  door,  tlie 
wliole  beinsr  roofed  in  in  such  a  manner  tliat  even  in 
inclement  weather  you  could  live  out-of-dooi"s  without 
the  risk  of  getting  wet.  This  being  lier  first  voyage  for 
the  season  she  was  fresh,  sweet,  and  clean,  entirely  free 
from  the  detestable  ship  odors  that  make  some  voyages 
sickening ;  and  the  china  gloss  of  her  new  \vhite  paint 
as  it  mirrored  the  numberless  incandescent  lights,  gave 
her  i\  fete-clia7npetre  effect  which  set  us  all  to  fraterniz- 
ing at  the  very  start  and  congratulating  each  other 
on  the  bright  prospects  ahead.  I  confess  that  I  Avas 
not  a  little  disappointed  when  I  found  that  ours  was 
one  of  the  very  tiniest  rooms  on  the  ship,  contrasting 
so  unfavorably  with  my  spacious  drawing-i'oom  in  the 
Pullman  car  ;  but  what  was  my  surprise  when  I  was 
politely  told  by  the  purser  that  as  soon  as  the  ship 
reached  Port  Townseud  and  took  on  the  last  batch  of 
passengers,  he  would  i-eai'range  the  rooms  so  that 
all  should  be  perfectly  satisfied,  "  foi',"  he  added  "■  our 
instructions  are  to  make  everybody  as  comfortable  as 
is  possible."  True  enough,  next  afternoon  we  were 
changed  to  a  very  large  and  well  located  I'oom,  aud 
given  the  use  of  the  adjoining  one  for  our  baggage  ;  and 
this  incident  serves  to  illustrate  the  uniform  considera- 
tion and  kindness  ^vhich  every  one  aboard  experienced 
at  the  hands  of  both  officers  and  servants,  from  the  hour 
we  left  Tacoma  until  our  return  ;  and  to  those  of 
us  who  are  fond  of  travel  and  adventure  this  is  a  very 
important  matter,  for  unless  we  find  ourselves  in  a  con- 
tented frame  of  mind,  we  are  in  no  mood  to  appreciate 
the  surroundinu's. 


Or^R  CAPTAIN,  47 

Of  course  you  will  Avant  to  know  about  the  Captain, 
AVell,  I  'm  goiug  to  say  what  I  think,  regardless 
of  the  effect.  The  phrase  may  not  be  exactly  what 
some  women  would  care  to  set  down  in  [)rint,  but 
it  is  expressive,  and  you  \vill  know  exactly  what  I 
mean,  Avhen  I  tell  }'ou  that  Capt.  James  Can-oil,  of 
the  Qtieen^  is  just  as  nice  and  lovely  as  he  can  be.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  during  the  whole  of  the 
two  weeks'  voyage  (with  the  exception  of  a  couple 
of  hours)  we  are  ^vithin  sight  of  land,  more  than 
half  the  time  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  it  on  each 
side  of  us,  and  as  this  is  considered  more  difficult 
navigation  than  when  out  on  the  broad  ocean,  the  Cap- 
tain spent  most  of  his  time  on  "  the  bridge  "  ;  ])ut  when 
he  did  come  to  meals  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  sit  near 
him  and  to  discover  that  he  was  still  full  of  enthusiasm 
about  the  trip,  thougli  he  had  been  making  it  for  the 
best  part  of  his  life,  and  that  nothing  gratified  him 
more  than  to  feel  that  those  around  him  were  enjoying 
it,  excepting  perhaps  the  opportunity  sometimes  afforded 
him  of  giving  them  a  good  deal  of  useful  information. 
I  have  often  thought  that  a  sailor  may  l)e  none  the  less 
a  sailor  because  he  is  courteous  to  bis  passengers; 
brusqueness  is  not  essential  to  establish  a  reputation 
for  discipline,  any  more  than  bad  tenipei-  should  go 
hand  in  hand  with  courage.  I  have  known  mild-man- 
nered men  who  were  the  best  of  soldiers,  and  I  have 
seen  sailors  who  were  as  much  at  home  in  a  diawing- 
room  as  in  a  gale.  The  story  of  the  young  man  cross- 
iuiT  the  Banks  of    Newfoundland  who  innocentlv  in- 


48 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


quired  :  "  Captaiu,  is  it  always  foggy  here  ? "  and  got 
for  au  answer,  "How  do  T  know,  I  don't  live  liere,"  may 
serve  to  lessen  the  number  of  al)surd  (|uesti()ns  wliicli 
would  no  doubt  test  the  temper  of  the  most  amiable  of 
sea-dogs,  bnt  it  also  serves  to  bring  out  in  strong  con- 
trast those  officers  who  have  the  tact,  if  not  the  natural 
inclination,  to  tolerate  the  curiosity  of  those  of  us  who 
are  really  and  sincerely  in  search  of  knowledge.  When 
Captain  Carroll  did  give  us  a  specimen  of  that  I'epartee 
Avhich  is  a  born  trait  of  his  countrymen,  it  was  done  to 
produce  a  laugh  and  not  to  humiliate.  For  instance, 
very  thoughtfully,  these  ships  are  provided  with  a  steam 
launch,  which  is  carried  on  the  lower  deck  ready  for  iise 
if  the  vessel  should  become  disabled,  in  which  case  the 
nearest  assistance  misrht 
be  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  distant.  The  pas- 
sengers, however,  got  the 
idea  that  this  was  a  pleas- 
ure-boat to  be  used  for 
little  excursion  })ai'ties  in 
Alaskan  waters,  and  one 
of  the  ladies,  who  ^vas  as 
much  a  favorite  as  she  was 
a  tease,  and  who  delight- 
ed in  having  a  little  fun 
at  the  Captain's  expense, 
asked  him  what  he  was 
going  to  do  Avith  the 
steam    launch    when    we  Kodak'd  by  Author . 


SEA  TTLE.  49 

got  to  Alaska?  "  Give  her  a  coat  of  paint  "  Ava.s  the  (|uick 
I'espouse,  and  our  fair  frieii(]  enjoyed  it  as  mncli  as  tlie 
rest  of  us. 

Punctually  at  four  o'clock,  I  ani  tohl,  we  left  the 
wharf  at  Taconia  and  headed  up  Puget  Sound.  Of 
course  I  w^as  asleep,  but  upon  reaching  Seattle  at 
six  I  ^vas  up  and  dressed,  had  taken  a  cup  r)f  hot 
coffee  and  eaten  a  biscuit  brought  to  nie  1)}  our 
room  steward,  who  gloried  in  the  soubriquet  of 
"  McGinty "  (so  called,  doubtless,  because  he  AN^as 
very  small  and  his  hair  was  very  red),  and  was 
ashore  as  soon  as  the  plank  was  ready  for  us.  Here 
we  remained  two  or  three  hours,  affording  a  too  brief 
opportunity  for  a  hun'ied  visit  through  the  sti'eets 
of  this  phoenix  city,  which  in  a  year  has  risen  from  the 
ashes  of  a  fire  which  almost  l)lotted  it  from  the  map. 
And  what  a  city !  Here  was  the  same  (piick-step  move- 
ment of  the  people  which  I  observed  in  Tacoma  as 
they  hustled  intelligently  about,  each  one  l)ent  upon 
some  errand  of  business — no  idlers,  no  beggars — eveiy- 
body  doing  something,  and  not  enough  to  do  it.  Seven 
years  before,  as  I  remembered  it,  it  was  a  town  of  some 
pi'etension  as  to  size,  but  none  whatever  as  to  architec- 
ture. Now,  the  track  of  the  great  conflagration  that  in 
an  hour  had  mowed  down  every  business  block  in  the 
place  was  recognizable  only  by  the  substitution  of 
massive  stone  and  brick  buildings  of  the  most  modern 
type  ;  the  streets  were  newly  and  well  paved  ;  electi-ic 
and  cable  railways  were  jingling  their  l)ells  in  all 
dii'ections  ;  the  wharves  and  docks  were  dotted   with 


50 


A    irOMAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


crowds  of  Avorkmen  and  piles  of  goods ;  and  a  kind  of 
Mark  Tapley  temperament  of  being  jolly  under  tlie 
most  adverse  circumstances  evidently  pervaded  the 
comnumity. 

I  should  have  liked  to  remain  here  at  least  a  day 
to  have  run  out  to  Lake  Washington,  of  which  I 
have  heard  so  much  ;  l)ut  all  I  could  do  in  the  little 
time   allotted   me   was   to   look   with,    wonder    upon 


what  has  been  accomplished  since  the  fire,  and  to  drop 
into  one  or  t^vo  of  the  sliops,  ^vhere  a  woman  can  gen- 
erally get  a  fair  idea  of  the  inhal)itants  of  a  t(nvn  by  a 
glance  at  the  character  and  style  of  the  things  offered 
for  sale.  If  tliis  is  a  reasonably  reliable  test,  and  I 
think  it  is,  I  have  formed  a  very  favorable  opinion  of 
the  tastes  and  hal)its  of  the  people  of  Seattle.     All  I 


SEA  rrLR.  5 1 

saw  liere  ^vus  typical  of  AiiH^ricaii  i;'n-.-ili(\-i<lisin.  In 
another  year  it  will  be  known  as  a  city  of  niagniticent 
buildings,  and,  like  at  Spokane  Falls,  the  people  will 
realize  tliat  the  recent  calamity  was  after  all  a  blessing. 
The  only  thing  that  [)uzzles  nie  is  where  the  people  are 
to  come  from  ^^llo  will  occupy  the  rooms  of  these  lofty 
sti'uctures.  I  see  the  supply,  but  ponder  over  the 
(piestion  of  demand,  and  am  answered  that  it  exists 
already,  and  if  it  did  not,  the  growth  of  this  region  is 
so  phenomenal  that  the  supply  of  any  thing  and  every 
thing  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  demand.  It  is  cer- 
tainly the  paradise  of  builders,  mechanics,  and  laborers 
at  present.  Not  the  least  interesting  sight  here  was  a 
group  of  canoes,  or  "  dugouts,''  occupied  by  Indians  as 
rovino;  habitations.  It  was  curious  and  instructive  to 
see  the  wonderful  economy  of  s[)ace  practised  by  these 
people  ;  a  whole  family,  including  cats  and  dogs,  being 
housed  in  a  sino-le  boat.  In  one  of  them  I  saw  two  cats 
and  a  dog,  ^vho  had  risen  before  the  rest  of  tlie  family, 
eatino;  their  meal  from  a  round  tin  vessel,  whic-h  had 
probably  done  similar  service  for  the  others  at  the 
evening  repast ;  while  thus  entertained  I  noticed  a 
movement  sfivino;  evidence  of  life  beneath  one  of  the 
blankets,  and  presently  a  member  of  the  household 
poked  a  pair  of  trousers  under  it,  which  so  stimulated  the 
contortions  going  on  within  this  o]-)en-air  sleeping  and 
dressing  room,  that  by-and-by  a  very  sorry  specimen  of 
the  red  man  emerged,  occupying  the  aforesaid  panta- 
loons, and  demonstrating  that  the  l)lanket  had  per- 
formed a  veiy  respectable  and  important  function.  'Die 


52  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

rest  of  tlie  family  1j\'  degrees  arose  from  their  houdoirs 
after  going  tlirougli  similar  mov^ements,  and  when  they 
were  entirely  unmasked  consisted  of :  a  maiden  very 
much  uuderdressed,  in  fact,  not  enough  dressed  for  an 
opera,  who  at  once  resumed  her  sewing  where  she  had 
pi'obably  left  off  the  night  before,  the  old  man  who 
had  acted  as  valet  in  distributing  the  wearing  apparel 
to  the  sleepers,  an  old  crone  in  a  scarlet  and  pea-green 
dress,  tw^o  little  ugly  children  who  had  better  never 
been  born,  two  cats,  and  a  dog.  There  were  a  dozen  of 
these  canoes,  and  this  was  a  specimen  of  life  u[)on  each 
of  them.  I  don't  know  where  they  were  going,  as  the 
hop-picking  does  not  take  place  until  fall,  bnt  prol)- 
ably  they  liad  come  down  to  trade  their  fish  or  their 
furs  for  flour  and  groceries.  At  all  events  that  is  what 
I  was  told,  and  if  it  is  not  exactly  true  it  does  not  make 
much  matter.     "  Si  nori  e  vero,  e  hen  trovatoP 

A  long  blow  of  the  whistle ;  an  interval  of  fifteen 
minutes  and  then  another  shoi't  blow ;  a  shout  from 
the  Captain  instructing  the  men  on  the  wharf  to  cast 
off  the  ropes  ;  a  signal  to  the  engine-room  ;  a  turn  of 
the  engine,  and  we  were  sailing  up  the  picturesque 
waters  of  Puget  Sound.  The  day  was  beautiful  ;  it 
could  not  have  been  better  adapted  to  the  use  we  were 
making  of  it  if  it  had  been  j^rovided  sj^ecially  for  us ; 
in  fact  during  the  whole  fortnight  that  we  lived  on  the 
Queen  we  had  the  most  charming  weather — bright  sun- 
light and  cloudless  skies — excepting  the  day  of  our 
arrival  in  Glacier  Bay,  where  it  rained  foi'  a  few  hours. 
In  all  this  we  were  rarely  fortunate,  it  seldom  ha[)pen- 


PUGRT  SOUND.  53 

ing,  I  am  told,  that  Alaska  tourists  are  blessed  ^vitll 
two  whole  ^veeks  of  wliat  I  call  scenery  weather.  It 
is  often  foggy,  fre(]nently  wet,  and  sometimes  vei'}' 
cloudy ;  in  addition  to  which  the  forests  are  peri- 
odically on  fire,  the  atmosphere  becoming  so  smoky 
that  every  object  I'emains  obscured  until  the  fii'es  are 
quenched  by  rain.  Next  to  being  born  blind  and 
doomed  to  listen  to  descriptions  of  what  is  going  on 
around  you,  it  must  be  the  greatest  torture  to  know 
that  you  are  in  the  presence  of  the  most  beautiful  works 
of  the  ci'eation,  hidden  from  you  b}^  a  fog,  and  tliat  you 
are  speeding  past  them  perliaps  forever,  never  to  re- 
turn. I  therefore  hope  the  day  is  near  at  liand  ^\•l)en 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  remain  on  board  the  steamer 
and  make  the  complete  circuit  of  the  coast  Avhether  it 
be  fair  or  foul,  but  that  you  will  be  enabled  to  do  it 
by  easy  stages,  resting  where  you  ^vill  at  pleasant  inns, 
and  resuming  your  Journey  when  the  elements  are 
favorable.  Of  course  this  kind  of  thing  Avill  come 
when  the  rush  of  sight-seers  will  not  only  Avarrant  it, 
but  make  it  necessary,  yet  I  am  well  pleased  that  I 
have  seen  it  all  in  its  original  and  undisturbed  grandeur, 
as  I  saw  the  Yellowstone  Park  befoi-e  the  introduction 
of  hotels  and  stages. 

Puget  Sound  is  a  grand  sheet  of  water,  several  miles 
wide  and  I  should  think  neai'ly  two  hundi'ed  in 
length  ;  of  coui'se  it  is  sim|)ly  an  arm  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  but  so  completely  land-locked  upon  all  sides 
excepting  at  its  entrance,  that  it  may  be  considered 
one    vast    lake    affording    absolute    protection   \v>   the 


54  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

ships  which  come  here  from  all  [)arts  of  the  world. 
It  is  full  of  beautiful  islands,  some  of  them  rising 
so  precipitously  from  the  sea  that  there  is  no  foot- 
hold on  them  for  man  ;  others  sloping  down  so  grace- 
fully to  the  water  and  dressed  in  such  gorgeous  colors 
that  you  want  immediately  to  buy  one,  and  build  a 
house  on  it  at  the  crest  of  the  lawn.  If  you  look  at 
them  as  links  of  a  continuous  chain,  you  perceive  that 
they  are  simply  spurs  of  the  Olympic  Mountains 
partially  submerged  by  the  ocean,  and  that  if  by  some 
convulsion  of  natui'e  the  water  receded,  the  steamer 
would  find  itself  stranded  at  the  base  of  a  deep  canyon 
and  surrounded  on  all  sides  l)y  a  range  of  mountains. 
What  most  impresses  you  is  the  vast  amount  of  timber 
on  all  sides — trees  of  enormous  height  and  thickness, 
and  such  millions  of  them  that  you  wonder  ho^v  many 
generations  it  will  take  to  consume  them.  In  my 
school-days  I  knew  nothing  of  Puget  Scnind  excepting 
that  it  was  a  speck  of  blue  on  the  map  some^vhere  up 
by  the  North  Pole  ;  in  fact  no  one  else  knew  nuich  about 
it  then  (for  that  was  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago) 
yet  to-day  I  am  really  afi-aid  to  Avi'ite  the  names  of  the 
many  cities  and  towns  which  dot  its  shores,  lest  some- 
body should  accuse  me  a  year  or  two  hence  of  having 
overlooked  many  of  them,  for  these  cities  grow  up  in  a 
spasmodic,  startling  kind  of  a  fashion  that  takes  your 
breath  away.  Anacortes  on  Fidalgo  Island  has  two 
hotels,  electric  lights,  a  railway,  and  about  three  thou- 
sand people,  all  of  which  have  come  since  last  New 
Year's  Day.     Fairhaven  on  Bellingham  Bay  is  perhaps 


PUGET  SOUND. 


55 


twice  as  large  as  Anacortes,  and   is  just  <nie  yeai-  (>1<1. 

I)<>ul)tless  otliers   are  being    born  wliile  I  wi-ite,  and 

may  be  ready  for  a  place  in  my  letter  l)efore  I  liave 

it  c<)m})lete(l,   if    T    don't  make  haste;    and  to-day   I 

have  a  letter  fioiii   noiii-  ])i-other,  no^v'  sni-veying  a  new 

line  of  railroad  near  ()lyiii})ia,  who  says :  "Tiiis  place 

is  gi'owing  so  ra])idly  that  I  believe  money  invested 

])i-udently  in  real  estate  can  be  doid)led  in  two  months/' 

The  fact  is,  everybody  has  the  fever  to  do  something, 

and  the  a\  onderfnl  development  Avliich  tliis  produces  is 

attracting  so  much  attention  that  capital 

and    lal)or    are    both    emigrating    there 

from  the  East  in   such  al)undance  that 

before   the   echo  of    the    axe  has   died 

away  in  the  forest,  to^\■ns  and  railways, 

churches  and  schools,  mills  and  factories, 

shops   and   homes,  have  taken   the 

place  of  the  stately  firs,  and  a  busy 

coimiiunity  is    brouglit  together  to 

increase   and   ]mdti})ly,   and,   I   hope,  to 

prosper.     The  number  of  steainl)oats  one 

meets  is  also  a  great   surprise;   so    are 

tlie   c]'o\\(ls    of    passengers   they   carry. 

Among  tlie  former  I  noticed  the  Clt]i 

of  K'uujdon^  and  the  sui-roundings  being 

not    unlike    the    Hudson,    I    naturally 

thought  of   home,  not  \\\\\\  regret  that 

I  was  not   there  again,  but  ratlier  Avith 

pity  for  those  who  could  and  who  did 

not  come  out  to  h)ok  at  this  wonderful 

and  charminii'  countr\ . 


iiismn-  Vladimir. 


56 


A    UVJ/AX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


At  P()]-t  Towiisend  Ave  stopped  only  long  enough  to 
afford  Captain  Carroll  time  to  settle  his  business  with 
the  ciistomdioiise,  this  being  the  port  of  entry  (what- 
ever that  may  mean)  for  Puget  Sound,  and  to  take  on 
the  passengers  who  had  come  from  San  Francisco  on 
the  steamer  City  of  Topeka  to  Join  ns.  And  I  am 
right  glad  they  came,  for  their  society  was  so  enjoyable? 
and.  the  narratives  of  their  recent  trips — some  of  them 
extending  as  far  as  the  city  of  Mexico — so  entertaining, 
that  I  am  almost  tempted  to  set  their  names  down  in 
pi'iut,  even  at  the  risk  of  being  personal.  I  will  simply 
mention,  however,  that  among  them  were  Bishop  Vladi- 
mir, Archimandrite  Innocent,  Jind  Rev.  John  A.  Sobo- 
leff,  of  the  Greek  Chnrch,  avIio  Avere  on  an  Episcopal 
mission  to  Sitka. 


{A'odak'd  by  Author, j 


CHAPTER  ^^ 


T  live  in  the  afteruoou,  after  a  very  smcwtli 
mu  aci'oss  the  Straits  of  Fiica,  \\'ith  t\n^ 
horizon  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  our  left 
and  iununieral)le  picturesque  islands  on 
our  rio'ht,  we  reached  Victoria  in  British 
Columl)ia,  situate  at  the  extreme  south- 
ern end  of  Yancouvei-'s  Island.  When 
we  were  notified  that  we  would  i-emaiu 
here  several  hours,  there  was  an  immedi- 
ate rush  for  the  town,  which  was  some 
three  miles  distant,  our  ship  having 
stopped  at  the  outer  w^harf  in  preference  to  enter- 
ing the  harbor  ;  how^ever,  we  found  awaiting  us 
several  electric  streetcars,  which  rattled  iis  off  at 
a  lively  pace,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  set  us  down 
in  the  heart  of  the  town.  My  previous  visit  to  \  ic- 
toria  having  im[)ressed  an  indelible  memory  of  a 
delicious  dinner  at  the  Driard  House,  I  resolved  to 
repeat  the  experience,  and  would  have  carried  out  my 
resolve,  but  was  told  that  a  visit  to  the  ''  Poodle 
Dog"  was  quite  the  proper  thing.  Now  the  "Poodle 
Dog"  is  the  name  of  a  restaurant,  but  why,  T  am  sure 
I  cannot  tell,  and   the  proprietor  was  once,  1   l)elieve, 


58  A    irOJ/AX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

the  cJiefoi  the  Driard  House.  It  is  not  an  ostentations 
looking  phace,  yet  it  may  be  recognized  1)}'  a  very  appe- 
tizino;  disphay  in  its  windows  of  the  jxood  thin^rs  in 
season  with  Avhich  it  can  supply  you.  On  this  occasion 
there  were  shrimps  on  show — beautifnl,  bright  pink 
shi'imps.  As  I  ^vas  debating  Avhether  wo  woukl  dine 
here  or  at  the  other  pkace,  the  shrimps  carried  the  day, 
so  we  entered  the  establishment,  ordered  dinner  for 
eight  oV'h:)ck,  and  then  jumped  into  a  victoi'ia  of 
another  sort,  and  placed  ourselves  under  the  guidance 
of  a  not  over-intelligent  hackman.  Fortunately  (so 
thought  the  men),  the  shops  were  nearly  all  closed  (in 
fact,  I  was  told  they  open  late  and  close  early),  so  we 
started  ris-ht  off  to  do  the  town  and  its  suburbs. 

Oh,  how  smooth  the  roads  were,  and  how  nicely  trim- 
med the  hedges,  and  how  neatly  painted  the  garden 
gates — all  so  English,  you  know  !  and  what  an  Eden  of 
flowers  !  If  you  have  never  seen  the  English  "  May  " 
in  full  blossom,  you  have  a  pleasure  in  store  for  you  if 
you  ever  visit  Victoria  in  June.  How  can  I  describe 
it !  Its  blossoms  are  either  white  or  old-rose  color,  but 
the  flowering  is  so  luxuriant  and  compact,  in  fact  so 
completely  covers  every  twig  of  the  tree,  that,  they 
resemble  a  mass  of  ^vhite  or  pink  carnations  mme  into 
one  huge  bouquet  as  large  as  a  cherry-tree.  The  air 
was  full  of  floi'al  perfume  wherever  we  went,  and  the 
eye  almost  tired  of  the  gardens  of  roses,  laburnum, 
virgilia,  and  the  most  gorgeous  blood-red  peonies  I 
have  ever  seen.  All  this  seemed  to  belong  to  Victoria 
as  a  matter  of  course.  There  Avas  no  effort  at  cultiva- 


6o  A    IFOMA.Y'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

tion,  no  mecliaiiical  gardening  ;  these  flowers  seemed  to 
tlirive  and  to  blossom  because  they  couldn't  help  it. 
To  us  in  the  East  who  have  to  take  our  plants  in  of 
nights  and  [)ut  them  in  the  nurseiy,  even  to  snstain  a 
consnniptive  existence  of  a  few  brief  days,  it  is  (|uite 
refreshing  to  plunge  into  the  midst  of  a  sea  of  flowers 
as  hardy  and  tenacicms  of  life  as  they  are  delicate  of 
fragrance  and  of  color.  If  I  have  ever  looked  at  a 
Claude  Lorraine  and  doubted  whether  his  pencil  had 
folh^wed  natui'e  or  his  imao;ination  the  most,  I  shall  do 
so  no  more.  Here  was  a  theme  of  land  and  watei'- 
scape,  incredible  on  canvas, — beautiful! oh,  so  l)eauti- 
fnl ! — beyond  the  reproduction  of  pen  or  brush,or  even 
camera. 

Nature  has  l)een  so  ])rodigal  of  her  bounty  here 
that  it  is  diflicult  to  turn  even  momentarily  from 
the  green  pastures  and  brilliant  gardens  to  look  at 
some  of  the  fine  residences,  yet  we  cannot  help  halting 
for  a  moment  at  the  one  erected  by  the  late  Mr.  Duns- 
muir,  ^vith  its  castellated  turrets  and  red  roof  surmouut- 
\\\<l  a  mairnificent  structure  of  lio-ht  s^ranite,  built  on  an 
eminence  which  overlooks  the  city  and  producing  a 
grand  architectural  effect.  Through  the  embryo  park, 
and  past  the  barracks,  we  next  drove  up  Beacon  Hill 
to  the  point  de  vue,  and  here  our  driver  for  the  first 
time  stopped  of  his  own  volition  ;  perhaps  it  was  his 
custom,  perhaps  he  was  himself  a  little  dazed  at 
the  picture  which  burst  upon  us  all,  perhaps  his 
horses  were  tired.  At  all  events  we  find  ourselves 
upon  a  treeless  lawn,  furnished  only  with  a  flag-stafi 


VIC  TORT  A,  n.  C.  6 1 

and  a  rustic  beiicli.  The  Ix'iicli  was  paitly  occupied 
by  two  gentlemen,  wXxo  wei-e  so  absorbed  l)y  tlie  scene 
before  tliein  tliat  tliey  liardh^  observed  our  coining, 
or  they  \vould  have  made  room  for  us  ;  so  we  re- 
main in  our  carriage  and  gaze  in  quiet,  speechless 
wonder  at  the  exquisite  picture  before  us.  The  land 
slopes  away  at  our  feet,  making  green  sward,  tlien 
come  a  few  of  those  exquisitely  colored  gardens  of 
which  1  have  spoken,  then  a  piece  of  ^voods,  and 
finally  the  rock-bound  coast  with  its  splashing  and  nuir- 
muring  waters ;  beyond  this  the  placid  lake-like  land- 
locked sea,  studded  -with  innumerable  islands  and 
dotted  wntli  boats  and  sails  and  steamers  meandeiiuir 
and  tacking  their  way  here  and  there  through  the 
intricate  channels;  beyond  these  the  deep  blue  foot- 
hills of  the  Olympic  range  fringed  at  their  base  by  the 
royal  and  stately  fir,  and  beyond  all,  towering  through 
the  clouds  skyward,  the  snow-topped  giants  of  the 
North  Pacific  coast.  It  ^\'as  now  nearing;  eig-ht  o'clock, 
which  in  this  latitude  and  at  this  season  is  the  time 
that  the  sun  disappears,  though  for  two  hours  more  he 
illuminates  the  atmosphere  w^ith  a  pleasant  twilight 
and  tinges  all  nature  \vith  "  rare  and  roseate  shadows." 
We  saw  these  tints  and  quickly  changing  colors  in  all 
their  phantasmal  mystery:  no\v  prussian  blue  fadino- 
into  idtramarine,  then  being  lit  up  by  a  ray  of  yellow 
from  the  horizon  suddenly  changing  to  a  pale  green, 
while  the  sno\vy  sununit  lines  of  the  01}'mpic  range 
were  tipped  with  opal,  and  finally,  as  the  outline  of 
the  mountains  grew  faint,  a  single  streak  of  licpiid  fire 


62 


A    WOMAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA, 


iiiai-kiiig  tli(^  line  where  the  ocean  seemed  to  melt  away. 
It  was  a  veritable  scene  of  enchantment,  and  we  left  it 
^vith  such  reluctance  that  our  eyes  and  our  souls  faced 
backwards  and  lino-ered  \\A\\\  it  until  our  carrlaire  had 
turned  abruptly  towards  toANu  and  it  was  lost  to  view. 
On  our  -way  back  your 
father  could  not  resist 
the  desire  to  alight  and 
ask  the  names  of  the 
many  plants  and  l)los- 
soms  which  decorated 
the  pretty  homes  we 
passed  ;  and  this  he  did 
of  a  ]_)arty  of  young  peo- 
ple indulging  in  lawn 
tennis,  Avho  not  only 
gave  him  the  informa- 
tion with  In-iofht  intel- 
ligence  and  Avelcome 
phrases,  but  insisted  upon  loading  him  with  both  arms 
so  full  of  exquisite  tlo^vers  that  when  he  returned  to 
us  we  hardly  could  find  room  for  them  in  our  carriage. 
I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  gentle  and  suave  courtesy 
\vitli  which  our  simple  recpiest  for  information  was 
I'esponded  to  l)}"^  the  gentlewomen  and  youths,  whose 
merry-making  A\'e  broke  in  upon,  and  I  was  glad  after- 
^\•al•d  to  learn  the  name  of  the  head  of  the  household, 
whose  surroundino-s  and  refinements  Avere  in  accord 
\\\\\\  such  good  breeding.  If  this  i)age  ever  comes  to 
the  eyes  of  any  members   of  Mr.  R.  C.'s  family,  and 


DINNER  A  T  THE  "  POOniE  DOCr  63 

they  should  lia[)peii  to  remember  the  Yankee  inva- 
sion I  refer  to,  I  hope  they  will  believe  that  my  little 
group  was  thoroughly  impressed  by  their  kindness 
in  this  episode. 

"  All  luiinan  liistory  attest'- 
That  happiness  of  man  (the  hungry  sinner), 
Since  Eve  ate  apjiles,  much  depends  on  dinner  !  " 

You  ai'e  right,  Lord  Byron  !  but  when  you  ^vrote 
"the  mountains  look  on  Mai'athon,  and  Marathon  looks 
on  tlie  sea,"  I  doul)t  very  mucli  Avhile  "  musino;  there 
awhile,"  }'ou  A\oidd  have  tolerated  an  imdtation  to  a 
dinner  even  at  the  "  Poodle  Dog  " ;  }'et  let  me  assure 
you  that  if  you  had  sent  a  regret  you  would  have 
made  the  mistake  of  your  life. 

The  "  Poodle  Dog  "  is  presided  over  by  M.  Marbceuf, 
wlio  is  a  cook  of  excellent  merit,  as  I  can  testify,  being 
quite  a  cordon-hleu  myself.  AVe  were  shown  to  a  little 
apartment  in  rear  of  the  store,  which  seemed  dex^oted 
principally  to  the  ice-cream  eaters,  and  found  a  table 
with  covers  for  three,  j^rettily  decorated  with  radishes, 
olives,  and  shrimps,  and  a  few  bright  roses.  I  need 
not  confess  to  you  my  daughter  that  much  as  I  delight 
in  exquisite  scenery  and  admire  works  of  art,  I  take  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  in  gratifying  my  taste  for  good 
living :  a  drive  in  the  Bois  is  none  the  less  enjoyable 
because  you  know  that  a  lunch  is  ready  for  you  at  the 
Cascades ;  the  deep  blue  of  Murillo  in  the  gallery  of 
the  Louvre  is  perhaps  appreciated  with  more  enthusi- 
asm if  you  expect  by  and  by  to  season  your  fatigue 
with  a  dinner  at  the  Cafe  Anglais,  or  Vibert's,  or  the 


64  A    WOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

Ricbe  ;  and  the  labor  of  the  ascent  of  some  Alpiue 
pass  is  compensated  for  uot  exclusively  by  the  gor- 
geous surroundings  of  the  hour,  for  without  the  cold 
chicken  and  flask  of  uative  wine,  wrapped  so  neatly  in 
the  white  napkin  and  packed  snugly  away  in  a  cute 
lunch-basket,  there  would  be  an  element  of  self-sacri- 
fice about  it  that  would  make  you  feel  you  had 
performed  some  deed  of  martyrdom.  I  have,  there- 
fore, made  it  a  rule  of  my  travels  that  my  palate 
and  my  gastronomy  should  be  well  cared  for,  if  pos- 
sible, in  order  that  I  may  keep  on  such  good  terms 
with  myself  as  to  receive  the  various  impressions 
of  my  Journey  in  an  amiable  and  contented  mood. 
So  nuicli  for  the  philosophy  of  my  dinnei'  at  the 
"  Poodle  Dog,"  and  now  for  the  realistic  part  of  it. 
The  maitre  dliotel  served  it  in  pro'prki  persona, 
and  the  meal  was  opened  with  the  shrimps  as  an 
incentive  to  appetite,  I  presume ;  if  so,  they  well  per- 
formed their  mission,  for  we  were  all  seized  with  an 
appetite  for — more  shi'imps  ;  following  these  came 
Olympia  oysters,  in  the  shell,  not  one  of  ^^'hich  was 
larger  than  a  nickel,  with  only  just  a  delicate  sugges- 
tion of  the  coppery  flavor  which,  to  my  uncultivated 
taste,  spoils  the  English  "native  ";  and  noAv,  while  we 
were  busy  with  a  broiled  spring  chicken, — and  such  a 
chicken,  so  white  and  so  tender, — our  good  host  in- 
formed us  that  he  had  forgotten  when  we  incpiired  for 
game  that  he  had  a  sqiuib  pheasant  in  the  refrigerator, 
and  he  would  cook  it  at  once,  if  we  desired.  ''  Roast 
it  before  the  fire,  and  serve  with  bread  sauce,"  was  the 


DixxjiK  J /■  /'///:'  -rooniJi  /)(U,.-  65 

prompt  I'espoiise  of  01  h^  of  us  ;  ''aii<l  hi'iiig  a  l>ottle  of 
tliis  Chateau  Margaux  18()4,'^  said  aiiotlicr,  handing 
tlie  Aviue  list  to  the  waiter  ;  and  w  hile  the  pheasant  is 
heinir  trussed  and  roasted  \ve  liniier  over  our  cliicken 
and  delicious  California  asparagus  and  soir^et  potatoes. 
It  \\' as  perhaps  half  an  hour  heiore  our  piece de resist- 
a?we  Avas  read} ,  but  it  Avas  well  worth  waiting  for  ;  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  untimely  demise  of  that  youth- 
ful bird  was  fully  atoned  for  by  the  manner  of  his 
presentation  in  the  forrii  of  food,  as  he  a})peared  im- 
paled through  the  breast  by  a  silver  skeAver,  sur- 
mounted by  the  lion  and  the  unicorn  entwined  with  a 
cordon  of  alternate  mushrooms  and  truffles  ;  and  Avitli 
him  came  a  lettuce  salad  Avith  a  soupco?i  of  onion  and 
estnujo)!^  fit  "to  set  before  a  king  "  ;  the  strawberries 
Avhich  folloAved  had  just  been  picked  from  M.  Mar- 
Ixeuf's  garden,  the  cherries  I  have  never  seen  excelled, 
excepting  in  Germany,  and  the  coffee  Avas  made  by  a 
Frenchman,  Avhich  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  say  about 
it.  This  ended  the  feast,  saA^e  the  ceremony  of  settling 
for  it,  and  I  deem  it  ni}'  duty  to  those  Avho  folloAV  me 
hereafter  to  say  that  though  the  dinner  was  as  well 
served  and  cooked  as  it  couhl  have  l)een  at  Del- 
monico's,  and  in  some  respects  perhaps  a  little  better, 
yet  the  prices  Avere  not  only  exorbitant  but  extortion- 
ate. I  Avould  therefoi'e  advise  that  a  full  understand- 
ing be  had  with  the  proprietor  in  advance,  lest  you 
find  yourself  charged  four  dollars  for  a  bottle  of  claret 
marked  three  on  the  list,  and  about  five  cents  apiece 
for  shrimps,  of  which  you  aviU  ])rol)al)lv  eat  tAvo  dozen 


66 


A    UVJLLV\S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


if  you  are  fond  of  tlieiii.  However,  we  did  not  pei'init 
the  bill  t(^  disturb  our  equauimity.  The  iuot)u  being 
at  her  full,  and  several  of  our  shij^mates  being  in  the 
same  condition  (I  refer  to  the  eatables  only),  we 
resolved  to  get  back  to  the  steamer  on  foot,  and  thus 
perhaps  avoid  the  nightmarial  attack  Avhich  we  had 
been  inviting.  It  was  a  Jolly  tramp,  along  a  level 
board  walk  of  three  good  miles.  The  young  men  sang, 
as  did  some  of  tlie  old  ones  too,  while  the  women 
laughed  as  they  listened  to  the  misfortunes,  set  to 
music,  of  an  Irish  gentleman  who  had  a  mania  for 
tumbling  into  horrid  places,  "dressed  in  his  best  suit 
of  clothes."  When  we  reached  our  bright,  beautiful 
ship,  she  lay  like  a  luminous  palace  beckoning  us  on  to 
sweet  dreams  and  the  dolce  far  niente  of  her  life. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


AYLIGHT  was  tiiitiiio;  the  land- 
scape  when  we  resumed  our 
voyage,  and,  as  I  luid  resolved 
at  the  start  that  I  wouhl  only 
sleep  when  I  could  not  see,  I 
was  up  and  walking  the  deck 
before  six  o'clock,  filled  ^vith  a 
sense  of  pity  and  I'egret,  to  use  no 
harsher  term,  for  those  who  still  re- 
mained in  l)ed.  Your  cup  of  coffee  and 
biscuit  aie  always  ready  for  you  at  the  tap  of  your 
electric  bell,  so  that  no  excuse  about  '"not  likino'  to 
o'et  up  earlv  l)ecause  aou  have  to  wait  so  Iouq;  foi' 
breakfast  ''  avails  you  one  particle.  If  you  do  not 
prefer  Avliat  I  am  looking  and  wondering  at  to  the 
comfort  of  sleep  (which  is  an  excellent  thing  in  its 
way),  by  all  means  remain  in  l)ed,  so  that  tlu^  few  who 
are  enjoying  the  effect  of  the  sunrise  may  have  plenty 
of  elbow-room.  Let  us  see  who  are  those  who  ai'e 
around  our  little  group  of  three,  sharing  with  us  the 
pleasant  l)reeze  and  balmy  sun-rays  of  this  excpiisite 
June  morning.  I  see  Miss  Margaret  W.,  from  Illinois, 
and  Miss  Marian  B.,  from  New  Jersey,  each  ^vitll  theii- 


68 


A    Jl'OJ/AX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


Kodaks,  waiting  for  a  chance  t(  >  snap  sonietliing — bright, 
good  girls  both  of  them,  and  I  Avish  tlieni  both  good 
snaps.  There,  too,  the  ever-smiling  features  of  Mrs. 
H.,  from  San  Francisco,  her  graceful  form  hurriedly 
thrown  into  an  idster,  and  a  little  scarf  carelessly  en- 
circling her  throat.  On  the  upper  deck  is  the  Rev.  C. 
C.  Tiffany,  of  iSTew  York,  and  his  cousin,  Miss  J.,  with 

their  field-glasses, 
probably  talking  of 
Japan,  the  Yosemite 
and   the   Xorweglan 


midnight  sun;  near  them,  Mr.  Drake  and  j\Ir.  Sherman, 
from  St.  Louis — gi'eat  travellers,  and  both  fond  of  it; 
3Ir.  and  ]Mrs  Meiuertzhagen,  from  London,  ^vho  have 
spent  the  first  two  years  of  their  married  life  travelling 
aronnd  tlie  globe,  and  tell  us  they  have  yet  one  more 
year  to  devote  to  it,  who  are  now  doing  Alaska 
for  the  second  time  ;  Mr.  Duhring,  of  Philadel- 
phia;    Bishop   Yladiniir   and    his   associates,   speaking 


VANCOllT.R.  69 

Russian ;  Miss  D.,  also  u  great  toin-ist  and  always  wide- 
awake when  any  thing  of  interest  is  to  l)e  seen  ;  Mr. 
Jolm  Bernhardt,  a  (iei'iiian  gentleman  in  charge  of  a 
gold  mine  in  Alaska,  who  Avislies  lie  wasn't;  and  three 
or  four  others  whose  names  I  do  not  know.  The  youns^ 
men  \vho  \vere  playing  w^hist  until  inidnight  of  course 
wonld  1»e  in  no  condition  to  resume  the  game  after 
lunch  if  they  lost  their  rest,  so  they  are  not  witli  us, 
nor  are  those  w  ho  take  two  houi's  at  their  toilets  ;  but 
those  of  us  who  travel  w^ith  our  eyes  and  ears  wdde 
oj^en  are  here,  and  Ave  have  no  regrets.  This  is  the 
Gulf  of  Georgia,  the  land  on  the  left  is  the  Island  of 
Vancouvei",  that  on  the  east  is  British  Columl)ia,  and 
both  shores  remain  distinctly  visible  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  our  Journey,  though  the  Gulf  of 
Geoigia  narrow^s  into  Johnstone  Straits  after  we  hav^e 
sailed  half  that  distance.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
mention,  though  it  is  no  part  of  my  intention  to  write 
either  history,  geography,  or  ethnology,  that  Van- 
couver gets  its  name  from  an  officer  of  the  ship  of  the 
great  navigator  Captain  Cook,  ^vho  took  j)eaceable 
])ossession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of  the  English 
government  just  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  rendered 
inestimable  service  to  mariners  in  surveying  and  pul)- 
lishing  charts  of  the  coast ;  also  that  the  ownershi[)  of 
the  island  of  San  Juan,  on  our  right,  w^as  the  subject  of 
dispute  between  England  and  ourselves  as  late  as  1872, 
W'hen,  during  General  Grant's  presidency,  the  (piestion 
w^as  referred  to  the  German  Kaiser  as  arbitrator,  and 
decided  in  our  favor. 


A    JJXXUAX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


A\  e  are  sailing  on  a 
perfectly  smooth  sea, 
wltliout  a  ripple  save 
the  foamy  furro^v  of 
our  ploiii^-liing  through 
it  at  the  rate  of  fifteen 
miles  an  hour,  and  the 
hnio;  line  of  aii:itation 
with  ^vhieh  our  propel- 
ler marks  our  Avake. 
~'  Standino;   at    the    l)ow 

{Kodak\i  by  AutJior.)  f qj.  ^  (quarter  of  an  h(  )ur 

Ave  penetrate,  either  Avith  the  ndved  eye  or  our  glasses, 
a  vista  of  superb  tranquillity  ;  passing  to  the  starboard 
side  Ave  find  ourselves 
overdooking  a  placid  bay 
encii'cled  by  forested 
mountains  of  prodigious 
size  and  snow-capped  in 
the  distance  ;  crossing 
through  the  social  hall 
to  the  port  side  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  an 
archipelago  of  a  thou- 
sand islands  of  emerald 
green  and  crimson,  loom- 
ing up  in  the  most  fan- 
tastic forms,  some  round, 
some  ol)long,  all  clothed 
Avith     a    rich     carpeting 


{KodaMd  by  Aut/wr.) 


Exo  I  vsi  rn  scexrr  i ' 


of  verdure,  or  wra[)pe(l  in  tlie  tliick  foliage  and  ^\ ainitli 
of  the  ever-present  fir;  and  tlien  to  get  one  fond  last 
look  as  we  liuny  along 
so  fast,  so  horrildv  fast, 
we  walk  briskly  to  the 
stern,  where,  overlook- 
ing the  frothy  water, 
lashed  into  foam  by  our 
wheel,  we  find  that  these 
beautiful  mountains,  isl- 
ands, and  forests  have 
closed  in  upon  us  like 
one  vast  frame,  leaving 
no  trace  of  the  course 
we  have  taken  since  we 
left  Victoria. 

It  is  a  shame  to  be  dis- 
turbed at  such  a  moment 
and  in  the  midst  of  sucli 
an  ever-changing  pano- 
rama by  the  sound  of  the 
i)reakfast  bell,  l»ut  the 
meals  on  the  good  ship  Queen  are  always  so  excellent,  so 
hot,  and  of  such  variety  that  I  must  go  down.  I  sometimes 
wished  they  were  quite  bad,  that  I  might  feel  it  no  hard- 
ship to  skip  a  few  of  them,  but,  like  every  thing  else  on 
this  glorious  trip,  they  are  above  criticism.  ^Moreover, 
tliis  morning  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting,  at  break- 
fast, Mrs.  G.,  the  wife  of  the  Mayor  of  Victoria,  who 
had  joined  us  for  the  cruise  at  that  city.    AVe  had  been 


{KoU(ik\l  I'V  Aiilhor.) 


72 


A    IVOMAWS  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


informed  that  our  first  stopping-place  after  leaving 
^"ictoria,  would  be  Nauaimo,  l)ut  at  l)i'eakfast  we  were 
told  by  the  captain  that  that  would  be  reserved  for  our 
return,  as  he  would  have  to  stop  there  twelve  hours  for 
coal,  so  we  pushed  on  through  these  wonderful  islands, 
twisting  and  turning  as  the  necessities  of  navigation 
required,  I  suppose,  each  change  of  our  course  opening 
up  some  new  scene  of  enchantment  and  the  next  one 
closing  it  to  view,  leaving  nothing  behind  but  the  hope 
that  another  turn  would  bring  it  back,  and  then  quite 
suddenly  experiencing  a  realization  of  our  wish.  Mak- 
ing myself  comfortable   on  the  very  uppermost  deck, 

clad  in  an  ordinary  cloth 
walking-dress,  with  a  little 
astrakhan  jacket  over  my 
shoulders,  I  just  sat  and 
revelled  in  this  monotony 
of  constant  change,  and  let 
my  fancy  wander  througk  a 
score  of  delicious  flights  of 
imagery.  Looming  up  be- 
hind these  immense  woods, 
which,  I  am  told,  are  them- 
selves growing  on  hill-sides 
one  thousand  feet  above  the 
water,  I  see  miles  and  miles 
of  mountain  and  table-land 
covered     A\'ith      snow,      the 

^ -^..^       depth  of  which  can  be  appre- 

{Kodak^dbyA^ahor.)  ^^ted  with  the   naked  eye; 


EXQUISITE  SCENERY.  73 

there  they  stand  like  \\w  pahu-e  alxxles  of  some  Liiaiit 
race  witli  tlieir  fac^ades  of  [)iirest  iiiai'Me,  tlu^ir  tiiri'ets, 
their  windows,  and  their  towers  ;  niy  imagination 
takes  me  to  Greece,  and  I  stand  below  tlie  steps  of  the 
Acropolis ;  I  am  once  more  in  Rome,  entranced  by  the 
silent  magnificence  of  the  Coliseum,  and  as  we  pass 
around  the  point  of  another  island  and  I  get  a  glimpse 
of  what  looks  to  me  like  an  avalanche  of  snow  curving 
over  a  shelving  rock  into  the  abyss  below,  I  think  of 
home  and  our  own  Niai^^ara.  I  am  told  that  excitin.g: 
scenes  produce  different  effects  ujjon  our  natui-es 
according  to  the  character  of  what  is  ti'anspiring  ; 
for  instance,  that  soldiers  never  speak  to  each  other 
during  battle,  the  only  voice  heard  being  that  of 
command  ;  I  myself  in  a  panic  at  sea  have  seen  a 
whole  crowd  paralyzed  into  speechlessness ;  at  a 
railroad  accident  or  a  fire  where  loss  of  life  is  threat- 
ened, they  say  men  run  aimlessly  about  shouting  to 
each  other,  but  none  of  them  doing  nuich  that  is  use- 
ful ;  and  I  observed  on  my  Alaska  excursion  a  nervous 
im[)ulse  produced  l)y  the  excitement  of  the  voyage 
which  took  the  form  of  running  around  the  ship  and 
calling  your  fellow-passenger's  attention  to  something 
that  could  only  be  seen  at  some  particular  s[)ot. 
''There's  a  whale,"  says  somebody,  as  a  spout  of 
water  is  suddenly  thrown  ten  feet  in  the  air  and  is 
rejieated  at  regular  intervals  ;  and  instantly  the  little 
crowd  disperses  itself  wiliUy  all  over  the  shi[>  shouting 
''  Come  and  see  the  whale,"  which  in  five  or  ten  minutes 
becomes  "  JT((i'<  vou  seen  tlu^  whale  {  "  and  then  in  h.-df 


;4  .1    JJVJ/'AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

an  hour,  ''  Did  you  see  the  whale  { ''  Aud  thus  you  are 
kept  iufonued  of  water-falls,  seals,  porpoises,  salmon, 
eagles,  and  Indian  canoes,  till  the  day  slips  by  ^vith 
nothing  specially  to  mark  it,  but  with  the  mind  satu- 
rated with  the  ^vonders  of  nature  just  as  it  is  with  those 
of  art  after  a  day  spent  at  Versailles  or  the  Vatican. 
And  yet  as  I  retire  I  am  told  by  Mr.  B.,  the  German 
gentleman,  ^v^ho  has  left  at  home  a  Jewel  of  a  wife  and 
a  cluster  of  little  ones  whose  pictures  he  has  shown  me, 
and  has  spent  a  winter  in  Alaska  (it  makes  me  shiver 
to  hear  of  it),  that  to-morrow  will  be  a  much  more 
interesting  day. 

June  4th. — ^Can  it  be  possible  that  it  has  been  only 
two  days  since  I  left  Tacoma?  and  I  have  done  Seattle, 
Port  Townsend,  Puget  Sound,  Victoria,  the  Gulf  of 
Georgia,  and  all  those  beautiful  things  which,  for  your 
sake,  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I  could  describe,  but 
which  you  must  see  for  yourself  to  realize  how  poorly 
the  very  choicest  language  would  paint  them.  This  is 
another  lovely  day,  which  I  confess  is  a  complete 
surprise  and  a  most  agreeable  one,  for  \ve  had  been 
cautioned  against  making  the  trip  so  early,  as  we  would 
undoubtedly  strike  what  the  sailors  call  "dirty  Aveather." 
But  no,  there  is  not  a  speck  of  cloud,  not  a  puff  of 
wind,  just  the  same  balmy  atmosphere  as  that  of  yes- 
terday, and  nothing  to  indicate  that  there  ever  is  any 
weather  in  this  region  save  the  streaks  of  cobwebby 
mist  that  here  and  there  lace  themselves  in  among  the 
trees  or  around  the  rocks  for  a  few  minutes  and  then 
dissolving  into  moisture  under  the  warm  sun,  disappear ; 


APPRO  A  CHING  A  LA  SKA . 


75 


r 


.^. 


■■■Kr\ 


Av 


and  we  avouM  not  he  \vitli<»ut  these  for  the  woi'M,  for 
they  are  ex(|uisitely  ijicturesque,  as  delicate  and  ephem- 
eral as  the  smoke  of  a  cigar, 
and  so  shy  that  at  the  blowing 
of  the  whistle  they  seem  to 
weep  themselves  to  death.  We 
have  passed,  through  Johnstone 
Straits  in  the  dai'kness,  which 
I  much  I'egret,  for  I  am  told 
the  channel  is  very  narro^v  and 
the  sides  very  high  and  precipi- 
tous, but  it  is  some  comfort  to 
learn  that  there  is  little  or  no 
difference  between  that  and  the 

scenery  we  are  now  passmg  gj^  "-.^^  '^  -^"^j 
through  ;  yet,  why  cannot  it 
be  so  arranged  that  the  ship 
should  anchor  at  bedtime  and 
start  again  at  siini'ise?  It  is  too  bad  that  the  least 
bit  of  it  should  be  missed,  and  we  only  hope  that  the 
captain  ^vill  so  time  our  movements  that  M'e  may  see 
it  coming  back.  The  feature  of  to-day's  experience 
is  the  wonderful  trans[)arency  of  the  wtiter  ;  as  we 
peer  over  the  ])o^v  of  the  shi[)  it  seems  as  though  we 
could  see  down  into  the  ocean  fathoms  deep :  in  fact  it 
is  not  like  water  at  all,  there  is  nothing  I  can  compare 
it  to  but  the  clearest  plate  glass  of  immense  thickness 
and  unsullied  purity. 


CHAPTER  YTL 


HE  fourtli  (lay  out  from  Tacoma  (June 
5th)    we   found   ourselves,  when    we 
came  from  our  state-rooms  lying  at  the 
wharf  at  Fort  Wraugell,  the  United 
States  war  vessel,  Pinta,  being  very 
near  us,  and  the  small  boats  of  both 
ships  plying  to  and  fro  exchanging    ci- 
vilities. This  place  gets  its  name  from 
Baron  Wrangell,  who  ^vas  the  Russian  governor  of 
Alaska  when  the  few  fishermen  who  had  settled 
here  grew  numei'ous  enough, 
about  the  year  1834,  to 
dignify  their  local  habi- 
tation   with    a    name ; 
su1)sequently    it    gre^v 
u[)  into  a  place  of  con- 
siderable   consequence 
and  population  by  I'ea- 
son  of  the  discovery  of 
gohl     in    tlie    vicinity, 
but  when  these  mines 
ceased  to  be  profitable, 

->■        _     ^  '  FORT    WRANOELL. 

fell   into  a  condition  of  {r-Codak' d by  Miss  Margaret  Watson.) 


i'ORT  WRANGRLL. 


// 


(lecuy  wliictli  seems  to  possess  it  still.  .More  ifcnitly 
it  lias  been  a  Uuitecl  States  military  post,  Init  even 
the  glamour  of  the  few  bayonets  has  departed,  aiul 
Fort  Wi'angell  is  perhaps  to-day  as  iiiiinvitiug  a 
spot  as  any  in  tlie  world,  save  for  the  few  curi- 
osities in  the  way  of  Indian  graves  and  totem  poles, 


\  -  i'l  j 

\^\ 

^^  rrf  , 

Bid 

imrTii'ii  wfc'B  nir 

^fie~.  '  ."  1  -^-^ 

J  J"*'*' 

p^  -'^(■■M| 

B^^^fc 

■3t— -^flWl 

.Ki_-       ^^ 

■^388 

'W'^Mk^ 

V '  *^ 

«.. 

■^ 

"  -^ 

--T' 

TUTICM    I'OI.liS    Ar    Kt)KT    WRANGELL. 


and  the  very  excellent  work  being  done  by  the  mission- 
aries in  the  Indian  schools.  As  I  landed,  I  met  ami 
^vas  presented  to  the  Governor  of  Alaska  (General 
Knapp),  who  \vas  making  a  tonr  of  the  coa.st  on  the 
Plnfd,  an<l  who  was  dressed  in  the  nniforni  <>f  a  major- 


7« 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


general,  minus  the  shoulder-straps.  The  morning  was 
cloudy  and  chilly,  Avdth  occasional  showers,  very  much 
in  keeping  with  the  few  dreary  streets  and  abandoned 
huts  Avhich  go  to  make  up  this  old  western  fortress  of 
the  Czar.  The  fort  itself  or  stockade  was  an  utter 
^\■reck  ;   in  fact  I  would  not  have  known  of   its  ex- 


A    STRF.ET    IN'   FORT    WRANGELL. 


istence  if  left  to  discover  it  for  myself,  so  I  hurried  on, 
picking  my  way  as  best  I  could  through  the  muddy 
thoroughfares  to  get  a  view  of  my  first  totem  pole.  I 
assure  you  my  initial  experience  of  a  promenade  in  an 
Alaskan  city  was  far  from  agreeable,  and  several  times 
I  wished  myself  back  in  our  good  ship,  where  I  could 
view  the  rocks  and  the  trees  from  afar  off,  rather  than 


THE  TOTEM  POLE. 


79 


be  bruising  my  poor  feet  upon  the  one,  and  crawling 
over  the  prosti-ate  forms  of  the  other.  It  was  evident 
that  the  place  was  entirely  without  horses  and  vehicles 
of  any  kind,  for  the  principal  street — if  street  it  may 
be  called — was  grown  a  foot  high  \\\t\i  grass,  and  was 
chiefly  used  as  a  place  to  store  canoes  and  firewood ;  there 
evidently  had  existed  at  some  distant  period  a  plank  side- 
walk, which  ran  along  the  entire  front  of  the  village, 
but  time  had  j^layed  such  havoc  with  it  that  the  jieo- 
ple  no^v  walked  in  the  street  to  avoid  it.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  thoui>:h  there  was  not 
energy  enough  in  the  whole 
place  to  light  a  fire  on  a 
cold  day. 

But  I  saw  the  totem 
poles ;  and  since  that 
time  at  various  other 
places  have  seen  them, 
and  pictures  of  them 
by  the  score,  and  al- 
though I  confess  there 
is  little  about  these 
totem  poles  which  is 
at  all  attractive  from 
a  physical  point  of 
view,  they  are  inter- 
esting in  so  far  as  they 
illustrate  the  fact  that 
all  humanity,  even  in 
its  aborio-iiial   and  its 


8o  J    UVJ/AX'S   TRIJ'  TO  ALASKA. 

barbarous  state,  adopts  for  its  own  protection  certain 
rules  and  laws  of  government.  The  totem  i)ole  of  the 
Alaskan  Indian  is  his  crest,  his  family  name.  He  is 
a  "bear,"  or  an  "eagle,"  or  a  "salmon,"  or  a  "crow,"  or 
a  "whale"  and  beino;  so  he  owes  certain  duties  to  his 
kin,  the  chief  of  which  is  that  he  may  not  marry  a 
member  of  it ;  and  another,  that  any  crime  he  commits 
attaches  a  responsil^ility  to  his  entire  class,  even  as  an 
injury  to  Mm  is  an  injury  to  his  whole  stock.  In  the 
one  case  all  may  expect  to  suffer,  in  the  other  all  must 
be  ready  to  avenge.  And  this  totem-pole  custom  leads 
to  extravagant  display  of  family  pride  among  those 
who  are  well  oif.  It  is  as  much  an  evidence  of  pros- 
perity for  Mr.  Bear  to  erect  a  high  pole  surmounted  by 
a  poor  imitation  of  his  god-father  and  carved  on  all 
sides  with  rude  effigies  of  his  ancestors,  as  it  is  with  us 
to  live  in  a  palace  ;  and  I  wondered  as  I  looked  at  some 
of  these  hoi-rid  sculpturings  whether  they  did  not  be- 
get the  same  neighborly  jealousy  and  vulgar  rivalry 
which  possess  those  who  esteem  themselves  more  civil- 
ized. The  people  must  devote  a  great  deal  of  their 
time  to  carvings  of  this  character ;  it  seems  a  mania  to 
Ije  shaping  a  piece  of  soft  pine  into  their' family  name, 
just  as  it  is  with  other  people  to  scribble  theirs  all  over 
the  world,  from  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  to  Indepen- 
dence Hall.  YoY  the  information  of  our  Darwinian 
friends,  I  may  as  well  say  that  I  was  unable  to  detect 
the  monkey  among  any  of  the  ancestral  specimens. 
Since  the  Indian  has  come  into  contact  with  the  pale- 
face he  has  ado[)ted  those  of  our  traits  and  customs 


77/7:    TOT/i^r  POLE 


w'liirli  lie  approves,  ainoug  tlieiu  being  exchanging  any 
thing  he  has  for  money ;  and  another,  diinking  as 
much  wliiskey  as  he  can  ^ei ;  and  although  there  is  no 
case  on  record,  perhaps,  of  one  of  these  people  selling 
his  family  tree,  yet  he  makes  miniature  representations 
of  it  all  winter  and  sells  them  to  tlie  tourists  in  the 
summei'.  One  of  these  I  have,  A\l)icli  ^vas  purchased 
under  peculiar  circumstances  at  Juneau  and  A^ill  be 
told  of  hereafter,  and  I  procured  at  Wrangell  a  very 
grotesquely  carved  effigy  of  an  Indian  Shaman  (medi- 
cine man  or  doctor),  of  whose  calling  I  may  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  by  and  by.  I  visited  some  of  the  huts 
in  which  these  families,  whose  creed  so  carefully  guards 
their  ties  of  consanguinity,  reside,  and  there  can  be 
nothing^  worse  in  the  slums  of  London  than  what  I  saw 
here.  In  the  centre  of  each  was  a  space  of  about  a 
yard  ^vide  in  the  floor,  upon  which  were  the  fires  for 

^varnith  and  for  cookinir, 
the  only  escape   for  the 
smoke  be  in  2;   throu2:h 
the  roof,  Avhere  an  aper- 
ture  ^vas   left    for   that 
purpose.     Two  or  tliree 
families   ^vere    squatted 
in  a  circle  around   this 
lire,  the  men  appearing 
to  be  clothed  in  the  cast- 
)fl:  AN'earing  apj)arel  of  the  ^vhite  man, 
and  the  women  tightly  -wrapped  in 
{Kodak'dhy  Miss  M.  />.  Beach.)    skirt  aud   blaukot.  h'ing  full  length 


82  A    JVOJ/AX  S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

upon  the  iloor,  tlie  shoulders  slightly  elevated,  their 
co})pery  faces  and  straight  loug  hair  protruding  from 
the  blanket  and  lit  up  by  the  whites  of  two  staring 
eyes,  for  all  the  world  like  seals  in  a  menagerie — 
but  with  a  heart-rending  expression  of  misery.  The 
Siwash  woman  is  a  beast  of  l)urden.  If  captured  in 
war,  she  becomes  a  slave  and  a  drudge  to  her  captors 
for  the  rest  of  her  life ;  if  living  \vitli  her  own  tribe, 
she  is  none  the  less  a  serf  to  the  man  whom  she  calls 
her  husband,  and  ^vh(>  leads  a  life  t)f  indolence  and  vice. 
It  is  therefore  a  common  habit  of  these  poor  \vretches 
to  murder  their  female  offspring  at  their  bii'th,  and 
thus  save  them  the  inheritance  of  a  life  of  toil,  shame, 
and  misery.  But  if  a  girl  escapes  being  the  victim  of 
infanticide,  a  much  worse  fate  a\vaits  her  on  her  arrival 
at  \\omanhood  ;  she  is  often  then  sold  for  a  few  blankets 
to  the  highest  bidder,  and  here  commences  a  life  which 
would  seem  to  justify,  if  any  thing  could,  the  murder- 
ous act  t)f  the  mother.  Polygamy  is  practised  among 
all  the  tril^es,  and  in  some  localities  a  man  increases  his 
wives  just  as  he  would  purchase  oxen  or  horses,  to  till 
the  Helds ;  the  greater  the  number  of  his  waves,  the 
greater  amount  of  \vork  he  can  accomplish.  The  odors 
in  these  huts  were  stilling,  and  the  filth  so  alarmingly 
dangerous  that  I  had  little  opportunity  to  investigate 
the  board  or  the  lodging  ;  but  in  one  of  them  I  saw  an 
old  man  dying,  .1  Avoman  lying  ill  with  a  fever,  a  whole 
brood  of  children  some  of  ^vhonl  were  crying,  and  a 
couple  of  shaggy  dogs  ;  all  this  life  and  sickness  and 
death  beinii;  the  state  of  existence  of  a  sin2:le  family — 


INDIAN  GRAl'RS. 


83 


a  horrible  picture  of  squalid  misery  and  111  isfort line, 
which  made  me  feel  like  askinii;  with  Dante  :  "  E  die 
genfe,  die  par  nel  diiol  si  vi/itaf'  But  the  mission- 
aries are  at  work — in  Fact,  they  are  doing  spleixlid 
service  here  and  elsewhere,  and  although  I  did  not 
visit  the  school  at  AVrangell,  owing  to  the  indisposition 
of  one  of  oiu*  party,  I  had  a  grand  opportunity  to  see 
one  next  day  at  Sitka,  and  shall  give  you  a  full  account 
of  my  experience  when  I  come  to  it.  There  are  some 
remarkable  typical  Indian  graves  in  the  vicinity  of 
Wrano-ell,  which  are  well  ^vorth  visitino-;  had  the 
^veather  been  brighter  I  should  have  made  an  effort 
to  see  them,  and  I  certainly  should  have  gone  anyhow 
if  there  had  been  any  mode  of  conveyance,  but  there 
was  absolutely  none.  The  totem  pole,  however,  is  tlie 
chief  feature  of  them,  serving  the  purpose  of  head- 
stone and  inscription.    Longfellow,  you  will  remember, 

has  it  thus  : 

^'  ^^^^  £ 


"  And  they  painted  on  the 
grave  posts 

<  )f  the  graves  yet  iinforgot- 
ten, 

Kach  his  own  ancestral 
totem, 

Each  the  symbol  of  liis 
household — 

Figure  of  the  bear  and  rein- 
deer, 

Of  the  turtle,  crane,  and 
lieaver." 


I' 


Perhaps  the  most  curious  thing 
to  be  seen  in  the  village  is  the 


,:  If   I 


////■ 


84  ^l    irOJ/AA'  S   TRII '  TO  A  J.  A  SKA . 

hull  of  an  old  steamboat,  high  and  dry  in  the  main 
street,  whose  decks  are  boarded  and  roofed  in 
and  divided  off  into  aj.)artnients  for  use  as  a  hotel, 
and  althou2:h  there  ^vas  little  vestio;e  of  human  life 
about  it  upon  my  visit,  I  was  told  that  dui'ing  the 
mining  boom  up  the  Stickeen  River  it  had  been  a  very 
populai"  hostelry.  I  was  glad  to  get  back  to  the  Qtieen, 
her  clean  decks  and  the  ablutions  ^vhich  the  com- 
forts of  my  stateroom  afforded,  and  gladder  still  to  see 
the  clouds  break  away  and  give  presage  of  a  bright 
afternoon   and  morrow. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  ships,  after  leaving  Fort 
AVrangell,  to  proceed  next  to  Juneau,  then  to  Chilcat, 
Glacier  Bay,  and  Sitka,  but  we  did  not  follow  this 
course.  Captain  Carroll,  finding  that  the  night  was 
going  to  be  clear  and  the  sea  smooth,  took  a  westerly 
course  through  Sumner  Strait  (formerly  called  Duke 
of  Clarence  Strait),  around  the  south  of  Baranoft' 
Island,  and  thence  north  to  Sitka,  keeping  the  island 
on  our  ritrht  and  the  broad  Pacific  Ocean  on  our  left. 
Having  announced  this  programme  to  his  passengers, 
we  went  to  lunch  to  chat  it  over,  where  the  captain 
was  voted  a  most  accommodating  host ;  and  we  natu- 
rally fell  into  a  conversation  touching  our  first  visit  to 
an  Alaskan  town,  during  which  I  became  indebted 
both  to  Captain  Carroll  and  many  of  the  intelligent 
people  I  met  at  his  table  for  a  good  deal  of  valuable 
information  touching  the  manners,  habits,  and  customs 
of  these  Indians,  much  of  which  was  subsequently 
vei-ified  at  Sitka.     As  you  depart  from  Wrangell  you 


THE  STICK li/iX  N/IHR. 


8: 


get  a  superb  view  of  the  mouth  or  delta  of  the  Stickeeii 
River.  It  was  far  up  this  stream  that  the  Cassiar  gohl 
miues  were  discovered,  which  promised  so  much  for 
the  j^rosperity  of  Wraugell,  and  great  faitli  still  exists 
among  the  people  as  t<»  the  future  udueral  wealth  of 
the  far  hack  country. 

The  sun  was  now  beo;inniui»:  to  make  himself  felt 
in  real  earnest,  and  the  atmosphere  changed  to  that 
mild,  balmy  sort  which  all  \vho  have  ^vritten  about 
Alaska  seem  to  agree  exists  in  this  vicinity,  l)ut  which 
I  had  despaired  of  experiencing.  The  clouds  had 
dried  their  tears  and  departed,  but  the  beautiful  fleecy 
vapor  in  straight,  trans- 


parent, cob-webl)y  lines 
still  hovered  amidst  the 
tree-tops,  just  as  a  bit 
of  fog  will  cling  to  the 
masts  of  a  ship  for  man}' 
miles  ;  in  some  places  it 
looked  so  like  the  linger- 
ing steam  fi'om  a  quick- 
moving  locomotive  that 
I  began  to  ask  myself 
how  soon  the  shrill 
whistle  and  the  rushing 
I'acket  of  the  steam 
encjine  would  resound 
along  the  banks  of  yon-  IP^IT^- — 
der  river,  freighted  with 
the     pi'ecious      nuggets 


THE    STICKEEX    DELTA. 


86 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


now  lyiug  liidden  in  the  iiiountaius,  whicli,  uiifortu- 
uately,  1  have  not  the  clairvoyant  power  to  find. 
The  Stickeen  Delta  is  a  beautiful  picture,  of  which  I 
was  unable  to  get  a  Kodak  copy,  as  the  atmosphere 
did  not  clear  until  we  were  too  far  removed  from  it, 
and  the  one  I  give  you  on  page  85,  which  I  obtained 
elsewhere,  does  meagre  justice  to  it.  This  afternoon 
was  spent  chiefly  in  walking  the  upper  deck ;  the 
theimometer  was  70  degrees  in  the  shade,  and  the 
Kodak  fiends  were  at  work  everywhere 
preserving  as  best  they  could  the  counter- 
feit presentments  of  each  other — my  party 
amono;  the  rest ;  and  althouo-h  it  was  our 
first  experience,  and  we  had  little  faith  in 
our  ability  to  ac- 
complish much,  we 
have  been  most 
agreeably  disap- 
pointed by  the  re- 
sult, many  of  our 
photographs  of  the 
scenery  and  groups 
being  perfect  gems 
in  their  way.  Din- 
ner came  and  went, 
and  we  were  again  on 
deck.  The  scenery  continued 

to  be  superb — in  fact,  it  grew  even  more  sublime  the 
farther  north  we  went,  the  snow-hoods  of  the  moun- 
tains became  thicker  and  hung  lower,  the  blue  of  the 


{Kodak  J  by  Author.) 


ARRIVAL  AT  SITKA.  87 

foot-liills  became  more  intensely  blue,  and  the  crimson 
and  yellow  of  tlie  ferns  and  grasses  grew  luxuriantly 
picturesque.  It  was  still  daylight,  but  the  outlines  were 
growing  fainter  and  the  air  chilly,  so  that  some  of  us 
were  arranging  to  spend  the  remainder  of  the  evening 
in  the  saloon,  when,  to  our  surprise,  we  discovered  that 
it  Avas  already  ten  o'clock — l)edtime,  in  fact — but  the 
novelty  of  daylight  at  such  an  hour  was  so  agreeable 
that  few  of  us  retired.  We  did  a  much  more  sensible 
thing  in  procuring  an  additional  wrap  and  standing  on 
the  brido'e  until  midnio^ht,  interestino-  ourselves  with 
the  beautiful  steering  of  the  ship  through  the  thousand 
islands  which  are  sprinkled  all  over  the  ocean  in  front 
of  Sitka,  where  we  arrived  just  at  twelve  o'clock,  and 
dropped  the  anchor  a  little  distance  from  the  city. 
The  Sitkans,  it  appears,  had  seen  us  for  several  hours, 
but  of  course  did  not  recognize  our  ship,  as  this  was 
her  first  trip  to  Alaska,  and,  moreover,  we  shoidd  not 
have  been  due  there  for  several  days  if  we  had  followed 
the  beaten  track  of  the  excursion  boats.  We  were  the 
first  lot  of  tourists  to  arrive  that  season,  and  Avhen  at 
last  the  truth  was  heralded  from  house  to  house,  there 
was  intense  excitement :  first,  among  the  American 
residents,  to  whom  the  faces  of  their  countrymen  are 
as  welcome  as  the  life-l^oat  to  the  shipwrecked  sailor ; 
and  second,  to  the  Indians,  who  realized  that  "  to- 
morrow will  be  market-day."  AYe  were  soon  surrounded 
by  all  sorts  of  canoes,  dug-outs,  row-boats,  and  sail- 
boats ;  and  midnight  though  it  was,  the  natives  had 
brought  with  them  their  wares,  and   the  white  people 


8S  A    UVJL-LY'S   TRW  TO  ALASKA. 

were  williug  to  sit  up  the  rest  of  the  night  if  they 
could  only  get  a  newspaper  even  a  mouth  old.  Tliere 
Avas  among  this  remarkable  fleet  a  little  steamer  which 
afforded  us  a  \vorld  of  fun  ;  it  was  smaller  than  any  of 
the  row-boats,  and  had  a  veritable  piece  of  common 
stove-pipe  for  a  suioke-stack,  Avhich  emitted  a  pyro- 
technic column  of  sparks  at  every  i)uff,  very  much  like 
a  Fourth-of-July  squib.  The  poor  man  who  was  cap- 
tain, engineer,  and  stoker  all  combined,  was  really  so 
ridiculed  and  laughed  at  from  our  deck  that  he  faced 
about  and  disappeared  in  sheer  disgust  at  our  bar- 
barous treatment.  One  day  only  is  allowed  to  us  at 
Sitka,  and  \ve  are  told  there  is  a  great  deal  to  see,  so 
an  end  to  this  midnight  dissipation  ;  we  must  to  bed, 
that  we  may  be  early  equip] )ed  for  to-morrow. 


{Kodak' d  by  Aiillior.) 


OIIAPTEK  VTIT. 


KIDAY,  JuxE  6th.  —  Bright  and 
early  we  were  up  and  ready  to  dis- 
embark. The  ship,  at  the  proper 
condition  of  the  tide,  had  moved 
ah)ng  to  the  city  in  the  night-time, 
and  ^\"e  found  ourselves,  shortly 
after  sunrise,  lyins:  at  the  wharf, 
objects  of  intense  and  welcome 
curiosit}'  to  the  inhabitants.  From 
my  point  of  view,  as  Sitka  first 
dawned  upon  me,  I  "was  instantly  reminded  of  Naples 
(though  of  course  in  miniature),  as  1  saw  a  groui>  of 
houses  nestled  in  the  lap  of  the  mountains  on  the 
l)rink  of  the  ocean,  while  across  the  bay  Mount  Edge- 
combe bore  a  stroniJ:  resemblance  to  Vesuvius.  This 
thought  I  found  was  common  to  all  of  my  felloNv- 
passengers  who  had  visited  the  Mediterranean.  Mount 
Edgecombe  is  a  grand  s[)ecimen  of  an  extinct  volcano  ; 
and  being  always  considerably  enveloped  in  snow,  the 
deep  seams  in  its  sides,  furrowed  by  the  streams  of  lava, 
which,  in  })ast  years—  perhaps  ages — have  poured  from 
its  crater,  are  all  the  moi-e  distinct  and  traceable. 
Having  seen  Vesuvius  in  full  eruption,  hurling  high  in 


go  A    JJVJIAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

its  convulsive  throes  huge  red-liot  boulders  and  ])our- 
ing  molten  Liva  from  its  lips,  I  could  form  some  vague 
idea  of  the  superb  illumination  of  these  hundreds  of 
islands,  their  tints  and  lights  and  shadows,  when  the 
fires  of  this  grand  old  mountain  lit  up  the  scene.  Pei'- 
haps  they  ^vill  come  again  ;  and  if  they  do  I  envy  those 
who  ha])pen  to  be  within  view.  Stepping  ashore,  the 
first  ol)jects  to  interest  us  were  the  dilapidated  ware- 
houses at  the  end  of  the  wharf,  which  indicated  that  in 
the  olden  time  of  Russian  domination  these  were  the 
busy  depots  where  the  precious  cargoes  of  coming  and 
going  vessels  were  stored.  (As  early  as  1810,  the  En- 
terprise^ one  of  John  Jacob  Astor's  ships,  lay  in  the 
harbor,  trading  for  furs  with  the  Indians. )  Just  1  )eyond 
these,  standing  upon  an  eminence  which  conunands  an 
excellent  view  of  the  town  and  harbor,  is  the  Baranoff 
Castle,  which  in  my  opinion  should  be  first  visited  in 
oi'der  that  a  clearer  idea  may  be  presently  obtained  of 
the  place  Avhile  you  are  walking  through  its  streets. 
In  no  respect  does  it  resemble  a  castle  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, its  exterior  is  that  of  a  very  homely  countiy 
hotel.  It  is  approached  by  a  staircase,  somewhat 
fatiguing  in  its  ascent,  but  returning  a  superb  view  as 
a  handsome  reward  for  the  eifort.  Besides,  you  will 
then  be  standing  upon  historic  ground,  around  which 
cluster  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  past  century, 
with  which  you  should  make  yourself  familiar  if  you 
hope  to  appreciate  what  you  will  see  when  you  mingle 
with  the  inhabitants.  Like  the  island  upon  which  it 
is  located,  the  castle  takes  its  name  from  that  old  mar- 


92  A    JI'OjWA.V'S   trip  TO  ALASKA. 

tinet,  the  Russian  Governor  Bai'anoft',  m'Ik^  in  tlie  early 
part  of  the  century,  fresh  from  his  familiarity  with 
tlie  liorrors  of  Siberian  life,  ruled  the  people  with  a 
t\'i'aniiy  that  l)egan  with  the  knout  and  ended  with  the 
axe.  Although  it  had  been  visited  by  the  llussians  as 
early  as  1741,  not  one  of  the  intrepid  Muscovites  who 
landed  were  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  capture  and  execu- 
tion by  the  native  Indian  Sitkans.  Again,  in  1799  or 
1800,  a  party,  believing  themselves  strong  enough  to 
maintain  their  foothold,  settled  near  here  with  a  vie^v  of 
remaining,  and  having  [)laced  themselves  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Archangel  Gabriel,  instead  of  stockades 
and  gunpowder,  were  in  their  turn  also  massacred  and 
their  houses  destroyed  by  hre.  This  brought  Baranoff 
to  the  spot,  ^vho  at  once  erected  either  the  present  or 
another  castle,  withdrew  the  town  from  the  protecting 
care  of  Gabriel  and  turned  it  over  to  the  Archangel 
Michael.  During  the  latter's  pi-otectorate,  it  has  done 
better,  yet  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention 
the  fact  that  the  spiritual  guardianship  has  been  con- 
tinually supplemented  by  Russian  bayonets  and  the 
moral  and  financial,  to  say  nothing  of  the  physical, 
power  of  the  Shelikoif  monopoly  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  who  were  the  lessees  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment and  controlled  not  only  the  trade  but  the 
officials  of  the  Archipelago.  It  ^\'ill  l)e  difficult  to 
work  the  imagination  u[)  to  the  point  of  believing 
that  this  now  desolate  old  palace  was  once  the  home 
of  the  nobility  and  the  scene  of  festivities  given  with 
Imperial    sanction    and    ceremony ;    l:)ut    such   is    the 


ins i\  y^n '  ii.  \ k.  / . \ v )/■/■  c  \  / .v  7X A".  93 

fact — liei"e  princes  nii<l  jiriiicesses  of  tlie  ])1()()(1  I'oyal 
have  eaten  tlieir  cas  iaie,  (juaffed  tlieir  vodlika^  and 
measured  a  minuet,  surrounded  l)y  a  court  fresli  from 
the  [)alaces  of  8t.  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  The  gov- 
ernorship of  this  extreme  western  poi-tiou  of '' all  the 
Russias  "  was  a  rewar<l  of  liigh  value,  and  succeeding 
Baranoff  came  a  number  of  the  nol)ility,  each  in  turn  pro- 
vided with  the  revenue  and  retinue  necessary  to  a  proper 
maintenance  of  the  dignity  of  his  office,  which  appears 
to  have  chietly  consisted  in  bixui'ious  and  extravagant 
entertainment  upon  any  ])retext  that  sliould  warrant 
it,  notably  the  arrival  of  a  foreign  war  vessel,  or  even 
a  merchantman.  I  have  had  opportunity  to  observe 
how  devoted  these  Russian  nobles  ai'e  to  the  convivial 
side  of  life,  for  I  have  been  led  to  tlie  l)auquet-room 
by  one  of  the  most  renowned  of  her  jolly  Admirals, 
and  have  sat  at  table  near  one  of  her  Grraud  Dukes 
whose  manner  indicated  that  for  him  there  was  but  one 
hour  in  life,  and  that  the  present  one  ;  so  that  it  was 
not  difficult  for  me  to  picture  the  avidity  witli  which 
in  dreary  Sitka  they  accepted  any  incident  which 
would  warrant  them  in  throwing  open  the  doors  of  the 
castle  ball-room. 

It  was  in  this  very  lumse  that  Lady  Franklin, 
twenty  years  ago  spent  three  weeks  of  her  aged  life, 
(for  she  was  then  eighty  years  of  age,)  in  the  hope 
that  she  still  might  find  some  trace,  dead  or  alive, 
of  her  adventurous  husband.  Sir  John.  It  was  here 
that  Mr.  William  H.  Seward,  after  retiring  from  office 
as  Secretary  of  State,  resided  for  several  davs,  on  his 


94 


A    irOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


trip  to  see  with  his  (>\vii  eyes  the  iiiimeuse  territory 
wliich  had  been  peaceably  acquired  for  his  country- 
men through  the  sagacity  of  himself 
and  Senator  Cliarles  Sumner,  and 
paid  for  at  the  rate  of  two  cents 
per  acre  through  the  personal  ex- 
ertions of  my  old  friend,  General 
N.  P.  Banks,  who  was  then  (1867), 
as  he  is  now,  a  member  of  Congress. 
It  w^as  from  these  very  w-indows 
that  Avas  witnessed  in  the  fall  of 
1867  a  pageant  of  great  significance 
to  civilization,  though  perhaps  not 
as  splendid  as  others  of  much  less 
In  the  l)ay  on  the  afternoon  of  October 
the  18th  lay  at  anchor  three  American  As^ar  ships :  the 
Ossipee.,  the  lie-sara,  and  the  Jamestown,  commanded 
l•especti^'ely  1)}'  Captains  Emmons,  Bradford,  and 
McDougall,  each  vessel  dressed  in  the  national  colors, 
w^hile  the  Russian  soldiei's,  citizens,  and  Indians  of 
Sitka,  \vhich  was  then,  as  it  is  no'w,  the  capital  of 
Alaska,  had  assembled  upon  tlie  open  space  at  our 
feet,  carrying  aloft  the  eagles  of  the  Czar.  At  a  given 
signal,  the  United  States  navy  fired  a  national  salute 
in  honor  of  the  Bussian  flag,  which  was  then  lowered 
from  the  staif  u|)on  the  castle,  and  this  salvo  being 
responded  to  by  the  Russian  gari'ison  in  compliment 
to  ours,  the  stars  and  stripes  were  hoisted  to  the  peak 
amidst  the  wdld  huzzas  of  the  assembled  people.  Thus, 
five  hundred  and  eight}-  thousand  scpiare  miles  of  the 


WILLIAM   II.    SEWAKI). 


consequence. 


STOK)'  01'  PRlXCIiSS  MAKSOUTOI'I'.  95 

earth's  surface  passed  from  tlie  control  of  the  most 
(les[)otic  monarch  on  the  gh)l)e  into  the  hands  of  the 
most  liberal  of  modern  governments;  thus  the  l)oast 
of  the  Englishman,  that  the  snn  never  sets  on  Ikm- 
Majesty's  dominions,  ceased  to  be  without  parallel ; 
and  thus  the  peaceable  sun-ender  and  peaceable  ac(pii- 
sition  of  vast  territoiy  without  resort  to  arms  furnished 
an  illustration  which  should  not  only  commend  itself 
to  all  mankind,  l)ut  help  to  inaugurate  with  the  com- 
intr  century  a  universal  acceptance  of  the  new  reli- 
gion, that  killing  is  murder  and  war  is  barbarism :  for 
if  statesmen  here  and  abroad  have  no  better  occupa- 
tion, for  instance,  than  fanning  a  flame  of  irritability 
concerning  the  ownership  of  the  unfortunate  seal,  who 
is  born  only  to  be  clubbed  to  death,  let  it  be  left  to 
the  women,  the  graves  of  whose  soldier  husbands, 
brothers,  and  sons,  they  periodically  decorate  with 
flowers,  and  let  it  be  seen  whether  they  are  not  brave 
enough  to  yield  a  little  Quixotic  dignity  and  all  the 
sealskin  costumes  they  ever  had  or  hope  for,  rather 
than  again  to  hear  the  wail  of  woful  ^var.  We  ai*e 
no  less  patriotic  than  our  liege  lords,  quite  as  combat- 
ive I  think,  and  just  as  little  given  to  sui-rendering 
when  we  believe  we  are  in  the  right ;  but  we  feel  like 
the  beautiful  Princess  Maksoutolf,  who  sat  here  at  this 
window  weeping  bitter  tears  as  the  ensign  of  her  regal 
master  was  lowered  for  the  last  time ;  those  tears  did 
eternal  credit  to  her  patriotism,  and  were  doubtless  a 
proud  satisfaction  and  a  comfort  to  her ;  but  what  of 
the  tears  she  would  have  shed  if,  instead  of  seeing  her 


96 


J    irOJ/AX'S   TKir  TO  ALASKA. 


lins])aii(l  formally  yield  up  liis  authority  to  a  friendly 
nation,  lie  liad  been  brought  home  to  her  the  dead  vic- 
tim of  a  bloody  strife  to  attain  the  same  object. 

As  I  looked  out  over  tliis  placid  bay  across  to  Mt. 
Edgecombe,  and  thence  far  off  to  the  western  horizon. 


LINCULN    bXKKET,   blTKA. 


^vhere  the  Pacitic  Ocean  dips  doA\n  to  the  coast  of 
Eastern  Asia,  the  thought  came  to  me  that  over  there 
was  the  l^irthplace,  the  cradle,  the  youth,  and  the  man- 
hood of  civilization,  and  that  it  had  journeyed  and  trav- 
elled westward  and  westward,  A\'earied  at  times  almost 
to  despair,  but  springing  up  again  and  striking  vigorous 
blows,  sometimes  in  the  name  of  religion,  but  oftener 


THJi  JUCTL'KJiSQUJi  IXDIAXS. 


97 


for  conquest  oul}',  iiutil  after  ages  liad  elapsed  it  foimd 
its  way  to  the  western  liemispliere,and  in  the  course  of 
time  encircled  the  globe;  and  that  it  was  now  here  on 
the  confines  of  earth  lookino;  towards  the  home  of  its 
creation.  I  could  not  but  contrast  the  Joyous,  health- 
ful hour,  which  ^vas  ours  here  at  the  ending,  with  the 
dungeon-life  of  serfdom  over  there  where  it  all  began. 
"Yes,  Madame,"  said  Judge  Calkins,  when  with  some 
enthusiasm  I  gave  him  the  benefit  of  this  idea  one 
evenino-  at  Tacoma,  "  the  tail  is  now  wafrsrino;  the  doof." 
Descendino-  from  the  Barauoif  Castle  and  walkimr 
up  the  main  street  of  the  town,  which  was  really  clean 
and  nice-looking — such  a  conti-ast  to  Fort  AVrangell, — 
we  next  became  intensely  intei'ested  in  the  Siwash  In- 
dians, Avho  Averc  most  pictures(|uely  grouped  upon  the 

[)orch  of  the  government 
l)uildino;,  oiferini]:  for  sale 
I  their  stock  of  baskets, 
S})oons,  bracelets,  ]'ings, 
miniature  totem  poles,  and 


(Kodak'.i  by  Miss  M,  D.  Beach.) 


98  A    IFOJ/AN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

all  kinds  of  kuick-koacks.  The  i)rices  asked  were 
exorbitant  in  the  extreme,  and  they  seemed  to  have 
a  kind  of  trades-nnion  understanding  among  them- 
selves that,  having  once  fixed  a  price  they  would 
adhere  to  it  to  the  List.  They  know  only  two  divisions 
of  money  :  a  "  bit,"  which  is  twelve  and  a  half  cents, 
but  payable  with  a  dime ;  and  a  "  dolla,"  dollar. 
Whether  they  base  the  price  upon  the  amount  of 
labor  expended  on  each  article,  or  whether  upon  the 
attractiveness  of  it  I  could  not  tell,  but  it  certainly  was 
not  regulated  by  the  supply  and  demand  ;  f(^r  instance, 
you  would  see  a  dozen  baskets  offered  by  a  dozen 
Indians,  each  asking  three  dollars  as  the  }>rice,  ^vhereas 
you  could  buy  for  a  dollar  some  |)rettier  one  of  which 
there  was  only  a  single  specimen. 

The  Indian  squaws  appeared  much  superior  to  those 
at  Wrangell,  and  much  better  dressed,  though  this  I  dis- 
covered was  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  holiday 
which  thev  take  upon  the  arrival  of  a  ship,  their  attire 
consisting  of  a  full  supply  of  female  costume,  fitting  of 
course  quite  loosely,  of  the  most  gaudy  colors  that  could 
be  selected,  bright  red,  green,  and  blue  predominating, 
^vhile  their  ears  and  wrists  were  ornamented  with  a 
great  profusion  of  home-made,  and  in  fact  very  well 
made,  gold  and  silver  jewelry;  the  feet  of  some  were 
1)are,  others  wore  coarse  blue  worsted  stockings,  while 
a  few  luxuriated  in  chamois-leather  moccasins;  the 
hair  was  Invariably  brushed  or  oiled  siuoothly  to  the 
head  and  plaited  in  the  l)ack  ;  and  each  figure,  young 
or  old,  male  oi-    female,  was    the  owner  of  a  blanket, 


THE  SITKA  INDIANS. 


99 


wliicli  seemed  as  indispensable  as  the  fau  to  the  China- 
man, or  the  umbreUa  to  the  Englishman,  and  Avas  made 
to  do  the  service  of 
hood,  jacket,  skirt, 
cushion,  or  lap-rug, 
just  as  the  occasion  i  hm\^ 
required;  generally  it  liRBi 
hunir  down  from  the 
top  of  the  head,  often 
Avas  thrown  over  the 
shoulders,  the  head 
being  turbaned  in  a 
highly  -  colored  hand- 
kerchief; but  in  the 
sunshine,  as  they  sat 
selling  their  wares,  it 
was  mostly  brought 
around  the  hips  and 
folded  aci'oss  the  lap. 

Tt  is  wonderful  what  a  superstitious  aversion  they 
have  to  the  camera.  AVhen  we  tried  our  Kodaks 
on  them  they  instantly  enveloped  themselves  in  their 
blankets,  and  would  not  uncover  until  some  old  crone 
who  had  an  eye  through  a  hole  of  her  hood  gave  the 
signal.  This  w^as  in  fact  so  mysterious  that  we  tried 
to  reason  with  them,  showed  them  pictures  of  our- 
selves, offered  to  send  them  their  likenesses  by  the 
next  boat,  but  all  to  no  purpose,  and  we  were  about 
to  give  it  up,  when  at  the  suggestion  of  one  of 
"  the  oldest  inhabitants  "  we  held  aloft  a  silver  dollar. 


{Kodak' d  by  Miss  M.  D.  Beach.) 


lOO 


/    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


Instantly  tliere  was  a  cliauge.     Tlie  superstition  simply 
consisted  in  the  belief  that  it  was  not  healthy  to  do 

any  thing  without  being 
paid  for  it,  a  superstition 
\vhicli  seems  to  pervade 
\vaiters,  and  porters,  and 
chambermaids,  and  that 
class  of  peo[)le  all  over  the 
world.  Indeed  American 
civilization  is  doins;  a  OTeat 
deal  for  the  Siwash.  It 
reminded  me  of  the  story 
told  me  by  an  officer  who 
accomj^anied  Commodore 
Perry's  expedition  to 
Japan,  to  the  effect  that 
when  they  first  anived 
they  could  drop  a  five-dol- 
lar gold  piece  in  the  street  and  find  it  there  the  next 
day,  because  no  man  but  the  owner  would  dare  to  lift  it ; 
but  in  a  month  or  two  the  f^-rowth  of  American  civiliza- 
tion  had  been  so  I'apid  that,  at  the  sound  of  the  fall  of 
a  quarter,  a  dozen  Japs  Avould  madly  rush  at  it  to  put 
foot  upon  it,  each  roundly  protesting  that  it  Avas  his. 

All  along  the  main  street  of  Sitka  the  Indian  women 
Avere  assembled  in  little  groups  of  four  and  five  squatted 
in  the  shadows  of  the  houses,  admirably  counterfeiting 
with  their  olive  skins,  bright  black  eyes,  and  showy 
colors  the  Italian  peasants  on  the  steps  of  the  churches 
in  Home.     Some  of  these  women  indult»:e  in  the  horrid 


{k'odak\l  by  Miss  jM.  D.  Beach.) 


THE  SITKA   INDIANS. 


lot 


custom,  now  fadiug  into  <li.suse  I  aiu  glad  to  learn,  of 
wearing  a  wooden  or  bone  or  ivory  button  under  the 
lower    lip,     called     tlie 
labret,    the     shank     of 

which  passes  through  a  .-^  -  ■    -. 

slit  made  in  the  flesh  for 
this  purpose  ;  it  means 
'nothing  but  adornment, 
and  assumes  different 
shapes  and  sizes,  accord- 
ing to  the  taste  of  the 
wearer.  Of  this  custom 
I  saw  a  good  deal  at 
Wrangell,  though  I  did 
not   see  there  Avhat  was 


very      conspicuous      m  -a^r^if'f^'^ 

Sitka,  namely,  the  use  of  the  powder  em- 
bellishment, in  ^vhicll  the  Sitkan  maidens 

£•    •       i.1  IT  ,1  \   '      X.  {KodaJcd by  Miss  M.  D.  Beach?, 

are  very  proiicient,  handling  the  subject  ^  -^ 

with  a  delicacy  of  touch  which  was  quite  remarkable, 
save  that  the  bro^vu-berry  tones  of  the  throat,  neck, 
arms,  and  hands  remained  in  strong  contrast  to  the 
pearly  features. 

Leaving  these  Indian  men  and  women,  who  were 
out  in  their  l)est  clothes  and  pi'ettiest  adornments 
for  the  special  benefit  of  the  tourists,  we  now 
cross  the  parade  ground  in  company  ^vitH  Mr. 
Bernhart  and  the  commandino-  officer  of  the  station, 
for  a  visit  to  the  rancherie,  the  home  of  these  same 
Siwash.     Walk  slowly,  tread  carefully,  talk  loudly  so 


TlIJi  RAXCIIIiKlli. 


\o\ 


as  to  give  notice  of  your  coining,  or  send  one  of  your 
party  ahead  to  give  notice,  for  you  are  al)out  to  ex- 
perience a  most  revolt- 
ins:,  almost  sickenino;  f 
sight,  and  tlieir  normal 
condition  in  costume 
being  bad  enough,  you 
don't  care  al)out  being 
met  b}'  any  sur- 
prises ^vliich  may 
prove  embarrass- 
i  ng.  En  iKi^sau  t 
I  may  say  that 
althouo-h  in  our 
case  every  pre- 
caution was  taken 

to  avoid  -Awx  sliock  t<)  our  sense  of  the  conventional 
[)roprieties,  Ave  ultimately  found  ourselves  in  conversa- 
tion ^vitll  an  Indian  patriarch  on  the  threshold  of  his 
own  wigwam,  dressed  in  a  night-gown,  and,  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  not  much  of  a  night-gown,  after  all.  The 
raucherie  is  a  row  of  detached  one-story  houses  with 
gable  roofs,  built  along  the  water's  rocky  edge  at  an 
elevation  of  four  oi-  five  feet  above  the  ground,  each 
one  ap[)roache(l  1)}'  its  separate  flight  of  board  steps. 
The  shore  in  their  front  is  strewn  confusedly  with 
canoes,  old  bai-rels,  tin  cans,  clotlies-lines,  strings  of  fish 
in  all  stages  of  the  drying  process,  brcdven  utensils,  bed- 
ding set  out  to  air,  dead  dogs,  decaying  fish  and  vege- 
tables, and  such   other   things   as   tend    to    excite    the 


io4 


A    ircK]/.Ly\S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


olfactcn-ies  (oil-factories,  one  of  our  party  suggested)  ; 
— tlie  exterior  of  tlie  houses  is  not  so  bad,  in  fact  I 
(loul)t  \\dietlier  tlie  fisliernien  on  the  Korth  Atlantic 
coast  lia\e  any  better,  yet  this  makes  the  filth  of  the 
inhabitants  and  their  miserable  methods  tlie  more  ob- 
servable. Each  family  seems  to  have  as  many  dogs  as 
children  ;  the  former  are  a  nian2:y,  mongi'el  breed  of 


Esquimaux,  and  the  latter,  poor  things,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  blind,  deformed  in  limb,  crippled,  and  nearly 
all  tainted  with  marks  of  scrofula.  The  able-bodied 
men  were  oif  on  their  fishing  expeditions,  or  employed 
at  the  salmon  canneries  along  the  coast ;  the  young 
squaws  ran  around  bare-footed  and  bare-legged,  and  the 
older  people  of  both  sexes  seemed  to  have  nothing  to 
do  but  sit  around  the  fire. 

We  went  first  to  tke  house  of  the  far-famed  and  very 
rich  Princess  Thom,  who  is  said  to  be  worth  $100,000 


PRINCESS   THOM. 


105 


(tlu)Ugli  we  saw  little  evideuce  uf  auy  such  luxurious 
wealtli),  ^\  liicli  she  has  acquired  through  shrewd  trad- 
ing with  her  own  race  and  tlic  \vhite  folk.  Her  adopted 
name  is  Emaline  Baker,  and  she  resides  at  house  num- 
ber 6,700  of  the  rancherie.  During  the  adminstration  of 
Captain  Beardslee,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  in  1879  all  the 
houses  of  the  Indians  were  numbered ;  and  for  some  very 
good  reason  no  doubt,  which  was  not  explained  to  me,  to 
each  number  are  added  two  cyphers,  so  that  the  home  of 
the  Princess  Avas  in  reality  No.  67,  though  the  four  fig- 
ures over  the  door  read  6,700.  Her  Royal  Highness  was 
hardly  ready  to  receive  at  this  early  hour  of  the  morning, 
as  was  evidenced  by  her  bare  feet,  'which  we  after^vards 
saw  daintily  shod  as  she  sat  with  her  subjects  on  the  steps 
of  the  Government  House,  but  they  were  as  clean  as 
though  just  from  the  Russian  bath  around  the  corner, 
and  she  ^velcomed  us  with  the  same 
obsequious  2><»liteness  with 
^\llicll  the  Chatham  Street 
clothier  would  ask  "Don't 
you  want  to  buy  a  nice 
coat  ? "  She  is  very 
fat,  of  course  not 
very  fair,  and  much 
over  forty,  and 
when  we  entered 
the  palace  offered 
us  chairs  while  she 
went  for  the  arti- 

1^^        {Kodak  d  by  Miss  M.  D.  Beach.)  '^ 


io6 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


and  vertn,  ^vliicli  slie  desired  to  exchange  for  coin  (tliey 
do  not  take  greenbacks,  are  not  predisposed  towards  gokl, 
but  are  all  in  favor  of  unlimited  silver).  These  consisted 
of  bracelets,  l)angles,  ear-rings,  baskets,  and  ^vood  carx- 
ings,  very  beautifully  made  by  her  people,  upon  which 
she  had  advanced  money  tluring  the  winter,  from  her  sur- 
plus in  the  treasury.  The  palace  itself,  like  all  the  houses 
in  the  row,  had  one  large  room  and  a  small  annex  in 
the  rear,  the  customary  fire  in  the  centre,  and  her  regal 
couch  was  not  only  quite  a  comfortable  bedstead,  but 
tlie  bedding,  blankets,  and   sheets  were  all   neat   and 

clean.  Her  "man  of 
equal  rights "  was  also 
present;  whether  he  was 
a  prince  I  really  cannot 
say — he  didn't  look  it ; 
he  was  much  younger 
than  the  Princess,  but  as 
he  was  her  seventeenth 
husband  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  the  stock 
of  mari'iageable  older 
ones  had  run  out.  Tw(^ 
doors  beyond  the  home 
of  the  Princess  (at  No. 
6,900)  is  that  of  a  religious  fanatic  over  whose  door  is 
a  sign  upon  which  are  painted  the  words,  "  Elisha 
Ltahin — head  of  a  large  family  of  orthodox  Christians." 
If  all  the  homes  had  been  as  orderly  and  well  ke[)t 
as  the  Princess  Thom's  there  Avould  have  been  little 


{Kodak\iby  Miss  M.  D,  Beach.) 


io8  A    irOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

to  excite  disgust,  but  they  were  far  from  it.  I  entered 
one  or  two  others  whicli  I  was  told  were  fair  samj)les 
of  all,  and  was  horrified  at  ^vhat  I  ^vas  compelled  to  see. 
In  the  corner  of  one  sat  an  old  man  totally  blind  and 
idiotic,  a  young  woman  squatted  at  the  fire  cooking 
some  horrid  greasy  stuJff  that  looked  like  tallow,  a 
middle-aged  stupiddooking  squaw  and  her  child  both 
wrapped  in  their  blankets  sitting  on  the  floor  waiting 
for  the  morning  meal,  a  squalid  unwashed  baby  scream- 
ing from  another  corner,  and  two  or  three  stalwart,  lazy 
men  lounging  around  with  their  hands  in  their  pockets  ; 
encircling  the  room  was  an  elevated  platform  upon 
\vhieh  were  thrown,  not  with  the  ai'tistic  indifference 
to  arrangement  recommended  by  Oscar  Wilde,  but  in  a 
confused  mass,  without  any  other  rule  than  to  find  a 
place  for  them,  every  imaginable  thing  that  these  peo- 
ple had  been  able  to  procure  by  buying  or  begging, 
froin  a  broken  clock  to  a  bandbox.  Here  was  a  rude 
bedstead,  made  of  plank  and  covered  ^vitll  a  mass  of  hay 
or  sea-weed,  or  something  of  that  sort ;  alongside  of  it 
a  clothesdine,  from  which  the  sleeper  inhaled  the 
moisture  from  the  half-washed  clothes  ;  on  the  wall  at 
the  bedside,  wearing  apparel  in  all  stages  of  decay, 
covered  mth  dust  and  splashed  with  mud  ;  cans  of  oil 
and  paint,  baskets  of  potatoes,  nets  and  I'opes  reeking 
with  the  odor  of  decomposed  fish,  pots  and  kettles, 
wardrobes,  fiour-bari'els  and  soap-boxes  ;  and  from  the 
rafters  hung  smoked  salmon  and  bits  of  bacon  and 
fresh  meat.  The  odors  ^vere  simply  frightful,  and 
though  I  did   not   count  how  many  distinct  smells  T 


HORRORS  OF  THJi  RANCHliRIli.  109 

perceived,  1  sliull  ev^er  feel  grateful  to  the  giddy,  be- 
jew^elled  squaw  ^^■bo  entered  as  I  was  taking  my  leave, 
and  ofave  me  the  benefit  of  an  aroma  of  musk  wliicli 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  found  most  usefid  and 
refreshing. 

Passing  along  and  edging  our  way  nervousl}^  through 
the  pack  of  half-starved  dogs  ^vhich  infest  the  neigh- 
borhood as  they  do  the  slums  of  Constantinople  and 
Amsterdam,  we  came  to  the  old  man  in  his  robe 
de  7iuit.  If  we  had  any  inclination  to  laugh  it  was 
soon  dispelled.  Poor  creature  !  he  was  emaciated, 
]3aralyzed,  and,  I  think,  demented  ;  and  in  the  midst 
of  his  jal)bering  and  solicitations  that  we  Avould 
enter  his  cabin,  ^ve  dropped  a  coin  into  his  claw-like 
hand  and  passed  on.  And  just  here  I  saw  a  dog  which 
I  shall  remember  all  my  life  ;  he  was  a  weird  and 
phantom  dog,  large,  and  originally  white,  but  his  coat 
was  falling  off,  exposing  spots  of  bright  piidv  skin  ;  in 
canine  lano:ua«:e  he  had  the  mantle,  and  he  sat  on  his 
hind  legs  a  shivering,  pitiful,  miserable  thing  that  it 
would  have  been  a  mercy  to  shoot,  though  this  doubt- 
less would  have  l)rouo-lit  down  upon  us  the  rao;e  of  the 
entire  rancherie.  The  South  American  poet  intended 
to  describe  that  creature  when  he  said,  "A'o  era  una 
perra  sarnosa,  era  una  sarna  jjerrom.''  I  had  seen 
enough,  more  than  I  care  to  tell,  and  I  retraced  my 
steps  through  the  throng  of  men,  Avomen,  children,  and 
dogs,  all  dirty,  infected,  diseased,  and  most  miserable. 
Dante's  famous  line  best  expresses  our  feelings:  '' JVon 
ragionaui  di  lai,  ma  guarda  e  passa.'" 


I  lO 


A    UVJ/AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


We  next  visited  the  sh()i)s  kept  l)y  Americans,  wlio 
had  a  mucli  lai'2:er  and  choicei'  assortment  of  curios 
than  the  Indians,  among  them  a  quaint,  unique  Rus- 
sian samovar,  some  totems  carved  on  walrus  ivory 
handsomely  inlaid  with  pebbles,  many  remarkable  bits 
of  Indian  carving,  and  hundreds  of  ^irettily  shaped  and 
brilliantly  decorated  baskets.  Next  we  found  ourselves 
with  a  cro^vd  of  our  fello^v-passengers  in  another  shop, 
buying  2)hotographic  views  of  Alaska  from  the  cameras 
of  Tabor,  of  San  Francisco,  and  Partridge,  of  Portland ; 
they  were  quite  cheap,  and  much  better  than  I  saw 
anywhere  else  ;  so  I  reconunend  3i'ou,  if  you  desire  to 
make  a  collection,  to  do  it  here,  as  you  will  not  liave 
such  another  opportunity. 

At  the  head  of  the  main  street  of  8itka  and  at  right 
ansfles    to    it    is    tlie    Russo-Greek    Cliurch    of    Saint 

Michael,  laid  out,  of  course, 
in   the   form    of   the    Greek 
cross,  and  following  in  every 
particular  the    architectural 
design  of  similar  edifices  in 
the  mother  country.   It  seems 
incongruous  and  out  of  place 
in  a  little    town  like  Sitka, 
though  in  the  courtly  days 
^^^^^^^^  ^^  Baranoff,  and  Kupreanoff, 
"'     ' :;     -      ^"^^and  Maksoutoif,  and  all  the 
-  _.  other   "  offs,"  it  was  an  in- 

GREEK  ciruRCTi  AT  SITKA.  dispeusable    adjunct   to   the 

{Kodak\i  by  Author.)  g^^te    pageantry    of   the  pe- 


THE  GREEK  CIirRCH.  iii 

riod.  The  poivli  oi-  entrance  is  surmounted  ])y  a 
square  tower  of  two  stories,  upon  ^^•hicll  is  a  belfry 
containing  a  chime  of  several  bells,  and  above,  a  very 
symmetrical  radish-shaped  spire  (excuse  the  simile), 
topped  by  a  cross  of  foui'  distinct  crosses  ;  over  tlie 
nave  is  a  Byzantine  dome,  and  above  this  a  cupola 
again  surmounted  by  the  compound  Greek  cross.  Tlie 
dome  and  spii'e  were  once  painted  green,  and  the  crosses 
gilded,  but  the  rains  and  fogs  of  the  Alaskan  coast 
liave  destroyed  the  brilliancy  of  these  coloi's,  and  to- 
day, like  all  else  that  is  ancient  and  historical  in 
Sitka,  they  are  ''  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast "  of 
neglect. 

The  arrival  of  Archbishop  Vladimir  was  quite  an 
event  at  Sitka.  He  is  the  prelate  of  his  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, and  it  soon  became  known  that  at  eleven  o'clock 
he  would  hold  a  special  service.  At  that  hour  there 
was  assembled  beneath  the  dome  a  very  remarkable 
congregation — a  melange  of  Indians,  E-ussians,  Ameri- 
cans, and  sailors  and  tourists  from  our  ship.  AVe  stood  up 
during  the  entire  service,  there  being  no  seats.  Arch- 
bishop Vladimir  and  his  four  assistants  wore  the  sacer- 
dotal ornaments  of  their  respective  offices,  which  were 
really  superb  ;  the  garments  ^vere  of  exquisite  texture 
of  gold,  silver,  and  silk  embroidery,  and  the  mitres 
studded  Avith  rare  jewels  of,  I  should  think,  inmiense 
value.  The  liturgy,  in  the  Slavonic  language,  was 
chanted  by  one  of  the  priests,  who  had  the  most  niii- 
sical  l)ass  \'oice  I  ever  heard  (though  aboard  ship  he 
smoked  cigarettes  from  morning  imtil  night),  and  by  a 


112  A    J  J 'OMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

choir  of  Indian  boys.  Taking  it  all  in  all,  the  service 
was  most  impressive  ;  the  native  cliildi-en,  llussian  and 
Indian,  well  dressed  and  genteel-looking,  seeming  to 
thoroughly  comprehend  what  ^vas  going  on,  ^\ere  con- 
tinually bowing  the  head  and  making  the  sign  of 
the  cross ;  they  were  scholars  in  the  church  school. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  I'itual  the  Archbishop  deliv- 
ered an  address,  and  as  he  turned  his  face  towards  us  I 
realized  the  truth  of  ^vhat  I  had  somewhere  read  about 
the  Greek  Church  and  its  priesthood,  to  the  effect  that 
the  prelates  are  selected  from  among  the  bishops,  who 
are  all  celibates,  and  that  the  preference  falls  upon 
those  whose  features  most  resemble  the  traditional 
Christ.  Archbishop  Vladimir,  as  a  passenger  on  the 
good  ship  Queen,  was  a  very  tall,  rather  thin  man,  clad 
in  a  long  cloak  to  his  ankles  and  a  cape  to  his  elbows, 
and  wearing  a  very  broad-brimmed,  low-crowned  felt 
hat,  his  hair  being  plaited  and  tied  in  a  little  bunch  at 
his  neck.  At  the  altar,  dressed  in  the  pnrple  and  gold 
robes  of  his  Church,  he  had  a  face  of  amiable  benevo- 
lence, a  soft,  flossy  moustache  and  beard,  his  hair  parted 
in  the  centre  and  flo^ving  gracefully  over  his  shoulders. 
The  carefully  studied  imitation  was  apparent  on  the 
instant ;  there  you  saw  the  ideal  picture  in  the  centre 
of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  fresco  of  "  The  Last  Supper." 
I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I  could  have  comprehended 
his  Avords,  for  I  could  see  l^y  his  gestures  that  they 
were  earnest,  simple,  instructive,  and  loving.  The 
service  being  over,  he  came  down  among  his  people, 
laying  hands  upon  them  and  blessing  them   with   a 


THE  GREEK  CHURCH. 


1 1 


smile  so  full  of  tenderness  that  I  am  sure  every  l()^vly, 
ragged  Indian  w  ho  kissed  liis  hand  \vas  a  little  better 
for  the  contact,  though  I  should  have  been  very  Sony 
to  have  submitted  mine  to  the  same  experience. 


While  this  ^vas  going  on  I  availed  myself  of  the  con- 
fusion incident  to  the  crowding  around  the  Archbishop 
to  take  a  look  at  the  interior  treasures  and  decorations 
of  the  church,  ^vhich  are  a  great  surprise  measured  l)y 
the  impression  made  by  the  fading  colors  and  a])])arent 
neglect  of  the  exterior.  There  are  two  altais  in  the 
transepts,  the  larger  one  being  shut  oif  excepting  dur- 
ing the  service  by  two  golden  l)i'()nze  doors,  each  ex- 
(piisitely  ornamented  by  solid  silver  images  of  the 
patron  saints,  the  doors  themselves  being  of  fretted 
and  open  work  and  most  effective  pattern.  KS\  the 
panels  are  decorated  by  oil  paintings,  the  details  of 
which   are   executed    ^vith   the   care   of  the   miniature 


114  ^    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

painter,  and  bear  the  very  closest  scrutiny.  Many  of 
these  are  framed,  as  it  were,  with  silver,  the  drapery 
and  ornaments  of  the  body  being  of  that  metal,  Avhile 
the  features,  hands,  and  feet  are  in  colors, — a  quaint 
combination,  yet  very  effective.  They  gave  the  impres- 
sion of  being  the  work  of  a  master-hand,  and  I  much 
regretted  that  there  appeared  to  be  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining the  artist's  name.  An  hour  can  be  veiy  well 
spent  here  by  the  art  student. 

Among  those  present  during  the  entire  service  I 
observed  two  very  charming  young  women,  \v\\o  ^vere 
evidently  as  little  a  part  of  what  was  going  on  as  I  was 
myself,  and  with  them  a  lovely  blue-eyed  child  of 
about  three  years  of  age,  whose  pure  white  skin  and 
pretty  dress  made  him  a  beautiful  pearl  among  the 
tawny  skins  of  the  unwashed  natives.  After  a  little 
hesitation,  I  approached  and  introduced  myself,  only  to 
discover  that  they  were  just  as  anxious  to  speak  with 
me  as  I  was  to  talk  with  them.  Of  course  it  resulted 
in  our  becoming  fast  friends  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day,  as  they  proved  to  be  the  wives  of  officers  of  the 
Pinta^  which  vessel,  you  will  remendier,  we  left  at 
Fort  Wrano-ell.  One  of  them,  Mrs.  F.,  Avas  from  Phila- 
delphia,  the  city  of  "  homes "  ;  the  other,  Mi's.  K., 
from  Washington,  the  city  of  "  social  life  "  ;  and  here 
they  \vere  out  on  the  far-off  coast  of  Alaska,  and  had 
been  for  ever  so  long,  without  either  home  or  society. 
One  of  them  resided  in  apartments  at  a  restaurant  or 
tavern  near  the  church,  which  her  own  taste  and  famil- 
iarity with   refinement    had  made   habitable,   and  the 


AMERICA  N  LAD  FES  IX  SITKA .  115 

other  (whose  husband  liappened  to  be  witli  her)  lived 
over  a  shop  across  the  street  in  a  coiijile  of  rooms  a[)- 
proached  over  a  creak}',  tumble-down  staircase,  but 
rather  cosey  when  you  got  into  them  and  experienced 
the  hospitality  of  the  pleasant  hostess.  IN'evertheless 
they  seemed  happy,  at  least  they  would  not  confess 
that  they  were  not  so ;  still,  I  made  a  vow,  on  the 
spot,  that  if  I  am  ever  a  widow,  naval  officers  need  not 
apply.  Said  one  of  tliem  :  "  I  expect  to  leave  this 
place  in  September,  but  have  no  idea  where  we  will  be 
ordered."  Said  the  other  :  "  I  have  been  here  three 
years — my  boy  is  a  Sitkan."  Now  Sitka  is  very 
beautiful,  very  romantic,  is  getting  to  be  a  good  deal 
talked  of  all  over  the  world,  and  will  probably  grow 
and  prosper,  but  it  is  no  place  for  charming  young 
women  to  spend  three  or  four  of  the  best  years  of 
their  young  lives,  separated  from  their  husbands  most 
of  that  time,  and  left  almost  entirely  to  the  unconge- 
nial society  of  a  population  seven  eighths  of  whom  be- 
long to  the  race  who  twice  in  the  history  of  the  city 
have  massacred  the  whites.  These  ladies  confessed  to 
me  that  there  was  no  diversion  or  amusement  ^vhat- 
ever  at  this  post,  excepting  "  just  a  little  scandal  and  a 
good  deal  of  poker,"  and  that  even  this  grew  monoto- 
nous and  had  to  be  varied  with  fishing  and  hunting, 
and  there  the  excitement  ended,  excepting  on  steamer 
days,  which  was  really  the  only  event  which  dispelled 
their  ennui.  They  depend  entirely  upon  the  Kussians 
for  domestic  servants,  and  these  are  not  only  very  inde- 
pendent, but  troublesome  in  many  other  ways. 


ii6  A    U'OMAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

We  learned  here  that  every  tiling  Aniei'ican,  wliieli  the 
Indians  think  well  of,  they  call  "  Boston  ''  ;  those  who 
are  Americanized  call  themselves  "  Boston  Siwashes  "  ; 
the  missionaries  are  known  as  "  Boston  men,"  and  the 
steamers  as  "  Boston  ships  "  ;  and  this  brought  from  a 
fellow-passenger  a  ca[)ital  story  Avhich  may  be  old,  but 
was  not  so  to  me,  and  would  be  given  here  even  tliough 
I  were  a  Boston  woman  myself.  It  is  of  a  patriotic 
youno;  girl  from  the  "  Hub  "  who,  beinij:  asked  to  ac- 
count  for  there  being  so  much  larger  a  proportion  of 
Unitarians  in  Boston  than  in  any  other  city  in  the 
world,  replied  :  ''  I  suppose  it  is  because  we  cannot 
bring  ourselves  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  re- 
generation, for  who,  being  born  in  Boston,  would  have 
any  desire  or  occasion  to  be  born  again." 

Hearino;  that  the  Indian  River  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
town  is  worthy  of  a  visit,  we  accepted  the  escort  of  our 
two  young  friends,  and  after  a  walk  of  half  a  mile  (I 
believe  I  have  already  said  that  there  are  few  horses 
in  Alaska,  and  no  carriages)  we  came  to  a  really  very 
([uaint  and  romantic  lane,  leading  to  a  clear  and  rapid 
stream  over  which  is  thrown  a  pretty  rustic  suspen- 
sion bridge.  It  is  a  very  charming  spot,  rich  with 
ferns  of  most  delicate  texture  and  brightest  green  and 
velvet  mosses,  such  as  those  which  border  the  foot- 
]_)aths  through  the  ^voods  in  England,  a  l)ower  of  wild 
foliage  in  fact,  of  e\'(piisite  color.  By  all  means  stroll 
through  it,  if  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  inhale  the 
pure  air  that  has  never  come  in  contact  \vith  the 
rancherie.     On  your  way  back,  you  will  discover,  per- 


ii8 


A    IJ^OJ/AN'S   TRll'  rO  ALASKA, 


haps,  that  Alaska,  like  Ireland,  has  lier  "l)laniey- 
stone,"  l)ut  why,  I  really  caimot  tell,  for,  excepting 
the  little  group  of  my  own  eountry^vomen,  wlio 
niio;ht  be  counted  on  the  fino-ers,  there  is  not  another 
face  in  Sitka  which  Avould  reflect  a  responsiv^e  smile  to 
the  sweetest  thing  that  fell  from  lips  that  had  kissed 
the  l)larney-stone  a  hundred  times.  The  stone  may  be 
recognized,  should  you  have  any  diifficulty  in  finding 
it,  by  the  names  of  tourists  and  inscriptions  cut  all 
over  it  in  all  the  tongues  of  the  To\ver  of  Babel. 

And  n()^v,  (piite  by  accident,  I  had  perha|)s  the  most 
interesting  experience  of  my  whole  trip, — certainly  one 
that  has  made  an  everlasting  impression  upon  my  mind  ; 
an  object  lesson  Avhich  often  and  often  will  set  me  think- 
ing, a  subject  which  would  require  a  vobime  to  do  it 
approximate  justice.  The  joyous  shouting  of  half  a 
hundred  l)oys,  some  of  them  dashing  across  the  road  in 


pursuit  of  afoot-ball;  well-clothed,  well-fed  boys;  healthy, 
vigorous,  intelligent  boys  ;  Indians,  half-breeds,  Musco- 
vites, and  a  few  Americans.  What  did  it  mean  ?  From 
where    had    they  so  suddenly  come  ?      From   school. 


THE  PRE  SB  ]  "FERIA  N  MISSION  SCHOOLS.    1 1 9 

These  were  the  beneficiaries  of  the  "  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Home  Missions,"  and  the  large  biiikling  on 
the  right  of  the  road  is  the  school-house.  Of  course  I 
had  read  about  this  Mission  ;  all  the  books  on  Alaska 
refer  to  it  more  or  less  ;  yet  the  knowledge  of  its  ex- 
istence had  brought  no  special  desire  to  visit  the  place. 
To  me  Sitka  was  the  vestige  of  a  departed  empire ; 
the  home  of  a  decaying  race  of  aborigines  ;  a  depot  for 
the  sale  of  Russo-Indian  relics  and  curios  ;  a  pretty 
little  town  timidly  hiding  away  in  among  the  mount- 
ains ;  and  for  that  I  had  come  to  see  it  and  had  been 
amply  repaid.  But  the  "  Mission  "  I  had  never  thought 
of ;  perhaps  the  book- writers  had  failed  to  attract  me  to 
it ;  perhaps  my  faith  in  missions  generally  was  not  very 
confirmed  ;  perhaps  I  did  not  believe  what  I  read  about 
them.  Be  that  as  it  may,  hereafter  no  man,  nor  Avoman 
either,  shall  outdo  me  in  words  of  praise  and  thanks 
for  the  glorious  Godlike  ^vork  which  is  being  performed 
by  the  good  people  who  are  rescuing  the  lives,  the 
bodies,  and  the  souls  of  these  poor  creatures  from  the 
physical  and  moral  deaths  they  are  dying.  I  am  not  a 
Christian  woman  ;  my  faitli  is  that  of  the  chosen  peo- 
ple who  were  led  out  of  Egyptian  tyranny  and  dark- 
ness by  the  piHar  of  fire  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  ;  but 
my  whole  nature  is  in  accord  with  these  Christian  men 
and  women,  whose  immolation  and  sacrifices  to  regen- 
erate their  fellow-creatures  will  surely  meet  with 
heavenly  reward,  no  matter  what  their  creed.  I  Avish 
I  had  had  more  time  at  my  disposal  \o  spend  with  the 
teachers  and   the   scholars   so  that  I  mio-ht   now  sfive 


I20 


A    1JVMAN\S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


even  a  skeleton  outline  of  tlieir  daily  life  ;  l)ut  1  may 
say  to  those  \vlio  desire  to  know  more  than  my  brief 
acquaintance  with  the  subject  enables  me  to  tell  them, 
that  these  Mission  schools  of  Alaska  are  in  charge  of 
the  Rev.  Sheldon  Jackson,  whose  address  is  Sitka,  and 
although  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  (as  he 
was  absent),  I  am  sure  he  will  most  cheerfully  give 
any  information  asked  for.  The  Rev.  A.  E.  Austin  and 
M]*s.  Austin,  having  observed  our  party  entering  the 
school-house  grounds,  received  us  at  the  door,  and  from 
that  moment  until  the  blowing  of  the  ship's  whistle 
admonished  us  that  we  must  leave  them,  were  exceed- 
ingly kind  and  polite,  facilitating  our  inspection  of  the 
school  in  such,  a  systematic  way  that  we  were  really 
able  to  gather  much  information  in  addition  to  expe- 
riencing a  most  novel  and  enjoyable  visit. 

There  are  about  one  hundred  boys  and  fifty  girls  in 
the  institution,  some  of  them  being  only  three  years  of 

age  and  others  as  old  as 
twenty-two.  The  scholastic 
education  is  very  properly 
confined  entirely  to  the  Eng- 
lish l)ranches  ;  but  this  is  sup- 
i^  "  plemented  by  the  ti-aining- 
''^^  schools,  founded  and  main- 
tained by  Mrs.  Elliott  F. 
Shepard,of  New  York,  where 
the    boys    are   instructed   in 

sHEPARD's  TRAINING-SCHOOL.       ^arpeutry,  shoemaking,    and 
{Kodaked  by  Author.)  black-suiithing,  and  the  girls 


THE  PRESS  VTERI AX  MISS  10 X  SCHOOLS.   121 


are  tauslit  dress-makino:  and  the  use  of  the  sevvinf>:-iiia- 
chine.  I  weut  first  into  one  of  the  class-rooms  of  tlie 
males,  where  I  sa^v^  perhaps  twenty  dark-skinned  Siwash 
Indian  boys,  whose  Mongolian  faces  and  almond-shaped 
eyes  had  assumed  an  expression  of  intellifj-ence,  so  differ- 
ent from  the  stupid,  l:)lear-eyed  appearance  of  the  same 
age  and  race  whom  I  had  seen  in  the  rancherie,  that  it 
was  difficult  to  realize  that  they  could  possibly  be  twigs 
of  the  same  tree.  Two  of  the  boys  were  at  the  black- 
})oard  Avorking  out  a  sum  in  Algebra  (a  thing  I  couldn't 
do  myself  for  the  life  of  me) ;  and  here  Ave  lingered 
for  a  f eAV  minutes  while  Mrs.  John  II.  DeVore,  of  Cony, 
Pennsylvania,  the  teacher  of  the  class,  gave  us  a  fair 
sample  of  the  progress  being  made  by  her  pupils. 
Next  we  went  to  the  Primary  Department  over  which 
Miss  Delph  of  Crestline,  Ohio,  presided,  who,  with 
great  patience  and  kindly  forbearance,  Avas  performing 
the  difficult  operation  of  extracting  the  guttural  sounds 
from  two  Indian  maidens'  throats  and  adapting  them 
to  the  pronunciation  of  English  words.  Up-stairs  we 
found  the  dormitories, 
like  every  thing  else 
about  the  establishment, 
orderly,  neat,  and  clean, 
due  regard  being  paid  to 
the  number  allotted  to 
each  room,  and  to  the 
subject  of  heating  and 
ventilation.    In  the  sew-  ^he  mission  children. 

iug      department       were  {Kodak' d  by  Author.) 


122  A    JJVJ/AX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

several  girls  openiting  .skilfully  u[)ou  the  sewing-ma- 
chine, others  cutting  from  the  piece,  aiid  younger  ones 
basting  for  the  sewing  girls.  The  colors  of  the  mate- 
rial were  all  bright,  in  fact  quite  gaudy,  giving  proof 
that  these  children  are  encourasred  to  o:ratif\'  the  harm- 
less  tastes  of  their  race,  Avhich  is  eminentl}^  proper. 

Next  we  were  taken  to  Mrs.  Shepard's  shops,  and 
although  the  work  was  over  for  the  day,  we  could 
plainly  see  by  the  specimens  of  handiwork  all  around 
us  what  a  noble  charity  her  philanthropy  and  bounty 
had  created.  Every  thing  within  sight  of  iis  had 
been  ])nilt  by  the  Indian  boys  who  were  the  pupils 
of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  and  of  Mrs.  Shepard's 
training-school,  including  the  school-houses  themselves, 
(for  they  had  recently  been  destroyed  by  fire,)  and  the 
group  of  little  cottages  in  the  distance  which  Mrs. 
Austin  begs  us  to  visit,  that  we  may  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  seeing  "  how  our  pupils  live  when  they  marry 
and  go  to  housekeeping."  ''  Joseph  "  was  at  home 
when  we  knocked  at  the  door,  but  his  wife  and  little 
ones  had  gone  down  to  the  landing  to  see  the  new  ship 
(the  Queen).  Joseph  ^vas  a  man  of  about  twenty-five 
years  of  age  I  should  say  ;  when  we  disturbed  him  he 
was  sitting  at  a  table  in  his  little  parlor  Avriting  a  letter 
which  I  saw  commenced  "  My  dearest  and  best  friend." 
It  Avas  being  Avritten  to  a  Mr.  Miller  in  the  East,  who 
had  been  his  benefactor  and  to  whom  he  chiefly  owed 
his  rescue  f  I'om  a  life  of  idleness  or  worse.  Joseph  was 
living  in  a  house  which  he  had  built  himself,  every 
inch    of    it,  doors,    windows,    staircases,  tables,   every 


J/RS.  E.  F.  SHKPARjyS  HOSPITALS.  123 

tiling  ill  fact  that  a  carpenter  could  make,  was  tlie  work 
of  liis  own  hands.  His  parlor  was  a  perfect  gem  of 
taste,  order  and  cleanliness,  and  as  for  his  t\vo  bed- 
rooms on  the  second  story,  which  ^ve  all  visited  (a 
dozen  or  more  of  us)  they  couldn't  have  been  sweeter 
or  neater  if  they  had  been  placed  there  purposely  for 
exhibition.  My  only  regret  Avas  that  I  had  not  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  woman  whose  innate  and 
once  latent  sense  of  refinement  had  been  developed  by 
the  instruction  she  had  received  in  the  ^Mission  school, 
for  no  other  kind  of  woman  could  have  spread  those 
little  comforts  of  the  toilet  so  daintily  on  the  bureau,  or 
decorated  the  walls  so  picturesquely  and  tastefully 
with  photographs  and  prints. 

Attached  to  the  school  are  two  hospitals  also  en- 
dowed by  Mrs.  Shepard,  but  neither  of  them  having 
many  patients.  In  one  was  a  little  consumptive  child, 
doomed  no  doul>t  to  an  earlv  death ;  one  of  those  un- 
fortunates  who  suffer  "  for  the  sins  of  the  fathers  to 
the  third  and  fourth  generation " ;  another  was  a 
rheumatic,  whose  neglected  infancy  had  destroyed  a 
life  that  could  now,  through  the  beneficence  of  educa- 
tion, be  made  happy  and  useful  had  not  her  healtli 
been  undermined  in  the  damp  pits  of  the  rancher! e. 
A  third  was  a  suiferer  from  ophthalmia,  produced 
perhaps  by  lack  of  cleanliness  and  living  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  smoke. 

It  is  said  somewhere  that  it  is  only  a  single  step 
from  civilization  to  barbarism, — perhaps  so.  If  all 
wrongdoing  is  barbaric,  the  saying  is  woi  only    trite 


124  A    IJVJfAX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

but  true,  for  .-i  false  civilization  often  begets  the  very 
worst  of  crimes.  But  I  and  those  ladies  and  gentle- 
men who  accompanied  mc  through  the  rancherie  and 
the  schools  at  Sitka  can  vouch  for  the  fact  that  it 
is  only  half  a  mile  from  savage,  uncivilized  ignorance, 
superstition,  tilth,  and  immorality,  to  education,  de- 
])ortment,  thrift,  domestic  felicity,  and  all  human 
happiness.  Thank  God  I  had  seen  ^'le  revers  de  la 
medailler  To  ha\^e  gone  back  to  my  comfortable 
home  in  New  York  and  to  the  embraces  of  my  bright, 
healthy,  intelligent  children,  feeling  that  these  poor 
little  wretches  at  Sitka  were  to  remain  outcasts  during 
the  brief  time  that  disease  and  degradation  should  permit 
them  to  exist  on  earth,  would  have  been  a  great  sorrow. 
Thanks  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions 
andtoMrs.  Elliott  F.Shepard,  the  reverse  is  a  great  joy. 


THE   MUSEUM   AT   SITKA. 
{Kodak' d  by  Author.) 


CHAPTER  IX. 


iS  tlie  time  arrived  for  oin-  departure 
from  Sitka  a  gi'eat  [)ortioii  of  tlie  popu- 
lation came  down  to  tlie  lauding,  and 
Just  Ijefore  we  started  we  were  surprised 
to  see  approaching  tlie  ship  a  long 
procession  headed  by  a  brass  band 
which  played  quite  good  music.  These 
were  some  of  the  pupils  from  the 
Mission  school,  and  the  musicians  ^^'ere 
Indian    boys     from    the    school    also. 

Arrived  at  the    landing  they   formed    an   interesting 

group,  at  which    we    all   levelled  our  Kodaks,  much 

to  the  amusement  of  the  youngsters,  wlio,  no  doubt, 

thought  some  of  us  a 

little    crazy ;    the    hat 

was  passed  around,  and 

the  band  added  al)out 

thii-ty    dollars    to    its 

fund    for   new    insti'u- 

ments.  When  we  finally 

began  to   move  away,    '~~'  — "Lw,'  *-. 

we   received   as   affec-  ^^KouakUby  Auuwr.^ 


126 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


tionate  and  regi'etfiil  nii  adieu  from  tlie  crowded  wliarf 
as  tliougli  the  spectators  were  parting  witli  their  nearest 
kiu.  The  young  American  women  waved  their  liand 
kerchiefs,  the  men  shouted  their  clieers,  and  the  little 
Siwash  tots  kissed  their  hands  till  ^ve  were  too  far 
away  to  distinguisli  their  forms  as  they  took  a  last 
fond  lingering  look  at  the  dissolving  view  of  the  ship. 
And,  oil,  what  a  charming  picture  was  ours  as  we 
steamed  out  of  the  harlwr  of  Sitka  at  six  o'clock  that 
lovely  summer  evening  !  The  sky  could  not  have  been 
a  moi-e  cloudless  azure  l)lue  ;  it  was  just  cool  enough 

to  provoke  a  walk  to  and 
fro  upon  the    deck ;    tliere 
was    so    little    air    stirring 
that    the    smoke    ascended 
in  a  perpendicular  column 
from    the    stack,    and    the 
sheen  upon  the  water  made 
the  ocean  a  sea  of  sil- 
ver.     We    all   felt    so 
jolly ;    everj^body    de- 
liglite<l  Avith  the  day's 
experience,    and    each 
person  having  some  lit- 
tle episode  to  relate  of 
the  day  spent  in  Sitka. 
Not  a  grumbler ;  not  a 
single  soul  disappoint- 
ed   about    the    slight- 
{KoiiaJcdiiy Author.)  est    thing;    in   fact    it 


77/ A"  /SL.I.rnS  AROlWn  SfTk'A.  127 

was  my  first  experience  in  my  many  xoyages  of 
pleasure,  where  universal  satisfaction  Avas  tlie  result  of 
the  day's  expei'ience.  Yet  I  could  not  lielp  thinking 
of  the  desolation  to  which  our  departure  condemned 
those  who  had  been  so  kind  to  us ;  nor  of  those  poor 
souls  whose  darkness  may  never  he  dispelled  by  the 
enliii^htenment  of  education  and  civilization ;  and  it 
occurred  to  me  that  if  I  owned  the  steamship  line  I 
would  build  a  little  hotel  there,  that  the  passengers 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  occupying  a  week  in 
excursions  to  points  of  interest,  which  it  is  imj^ossible 
to  reach  in  a  large  ship,  and  then  life  at  Sitka  would 
not  be  so  intolerable ;  and  that  if  I  was  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  I  would  put  the  Indians 
under  such  discipline  that  their  quarters  should  be 
subject  to  inspection,  and  their  children  comj)elled  to 
go  to  school.  What  two  great  boons  these  would  be 
to  Sitka,  and  how  easy  to  accomplish  l>oth.  But  the 
scenery  is  so  beautifully  grand  that  I  must  keep  my 
moralizins:  for  some  future  time. 

This  is  the  Sitkau  Archipelago,  and  we  are  in  the  midst 
of  so  many  islands  that  I  don't  know  whether  to  speak 
of  them  by  hundreds  or  thousands  ;  they  are  exquisite 
emerald,  pink,  yellow,  and  crimson  islands  all  of  them,  so 
close  to  each  other  that  the  deer  swim  to  and  fro  as  the 
canary  leaps  fi'om  perch  to  perch,  and  the  shadows  of 
their  tall  forests  fall  from  one  to  the  other  just  as  the 
housetop  throws  its  shade  across  the  street ;  yet  the 
channel  is  so  deep  between  them  that  we  cii'cle  and 
wind  in  and   out   of  them  at  a  rate  of  speed  \vhich 


128  A    WOJfAJV'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

throws  tlie  water  high  u[)  ii[)()ii  their  l)aiik8,  frighten- 
ing tlie  wild  ducks  and  geese,  Avho  in  flocks  and 
couples  dart  across  our  bow  continually.  Mount 
Edgecombe,  five  miles  right  ahead  of  us,  becomes 
the  centre  of  obsei'vation  and  the  subject  of  con- 
versation. Every  field-glass  on  the  ship  is  levelled 
at  it,  and  we  distinctly  see  the  gaping  mouth  of  the 
crater  and  the  deep  ravines  cut  by  the  rivei's  of 
lava  which  have  rolled  to  its  base.  We  again  take 
the  outer  channel,  kee23ing  Mount  Edgecombe  on  our 
right  for  several  hours,  it  appeai*ed  to  me, — each  view 
of  it  being  more  and  more  confirmatory  of  its  volcanic 
character.  We  are  now  passing  around  Kruzof  Island, 
and  when  well  out  to  sea,  steer  due  north  along  the 
western  coast  of  Tchitchao^off  Island  towards  Cross 
Sound,  which  is  the  outlet  of  Glacier  Bay.  It  is  half- 
past  ten  o'clock  when  ^ve  approach  Cape  Cross,  yet  it 
is  daylight,  real  daylight,  by  which  you  can  read  a 
newspaper  Just  as  well  as  at  tea-time.  What  is  that 
white  streak  above  the  horizon  ricjlit  ahead  of  us  ?  Is 
it  a  cloud,  or  some  optical  illusion  ?  "  Nothing  of  the 
kind  ;  it  is  the  Fairweather  range,  the  most  beautiful 
snow  mountains  in  the  world,"  says  Captain  Carroll. 
"Sorry  it  will  be  a  little  dark  when  we  get  there,  but 
you  shall  see  them  by  daylight  if  the  weather  holds 
up."  Fortunately,  as  we  were  out  of  reach  of  tele- 
graphic communication,  the  AYeather  Bureau  had  no 
chance  to  dash  our  hopes  with  prognostications  of 
"cloudy,  followed  by  local  rains,"  or  any  nonsense  of 
that   kind,   and   as   the   sun   had    gone    down   full   of 


A  NIGHT  OF  CONTIXUAL  DA  V. 


129 


promise,  we  bad  every  I'easou  to  feel  hopeful  that  the 
Captain  would  be  able  to  keep  his  ^vol'd,  and  Avell  did 
he  keep  it  two  days  later. 

But,  to  return  to  Cross  Sound ;  b}'  reference  to 
the  maps  you  will  iind  that  here  Ave  change  our 
course  abruptly  to  the  right,  and  you  will  also  remark, 
probably,   that   this   water  is  called  on  some  of  them 


Icy  Strait.  It  is  eleven  o'clock ;  hardly  a  passenger 
has  retired  for  the  night — night,  did  I  sa}^  ?  Night 
it  may  have  been  by  the  clock,  but  by  the  heavens 
it  was  a  night  of  continual  day.  Some  of  us  had 
determined  not  to  go  to  bed  at  all,  and  the  Captain, 
overhearing  this  heroic  resolve,  pr<^)mptly  placed  both 
kitchen  and  pantry  at  our  disposal,  and  joinetl  oui' 
party,  amiably  giving  us  the  names  of  the  mountains, 


I30  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

capes,  and  islands  as  we  approached  tliem.  I  kDew 
not  how  often,  if  ever,  the  scene  before  me  had 
been  viewed  to  such  advantage  by  others,  but,  for 
myself,  I  felt  the  inspiration  of  the  hour  so  pi'ofoundly 
that  I  could  scarce  believe  it  was  part  of  that  same 
earth  which  I  had  left  behind  me  but  a  few  brief  days. 
In  a  group  of  a  dozen  or  twenty  people  among  whom 
I  stood  there  were  periods  of  several  minutes,  I 
should  think,  when  not  a  word  was  uttered,  except, 
perhaps,  a  half-suppressed  exclamation  of  awe  and 
admiration.  For  my  part,  I  leaned  upon  the  I'ail  of 
the  ship,  peering  into  the  twilight,  every  now  and  then 
catching  a  glimpse  of  some  new  wonder  in  the  distance 
and  trying  to  mould  it  into  form ;  filled  with  an  ecstasy 
of  amazement  and  surprise  which  I  had  never  before 
experienced  in  a  somewhat  adventurous  life.  Along 
the  horizon,  in  a  complete  semicircle  from  left  to  right, 
was  a  streak  of  golden  fire — that  kind  of  molten,  liquid 
fire  which  pours  from  the  blast-furnace  in  the  night- 
time and  courses  its  way  through  the  gutters  made  to 
receive  it  in  the  clay, — and  where  the  snow  mountains 
broke  in  upon  its  lines,  it  lit  them  up  ^vith  tints  of  the 
most  delicate  pink,  just  soft  enough  to  mark  their  out- 
lines against  the  gray-green  twilight  beyond.  And 
the  shades  of  this  twilight,  how  beautiful  and  delicate 
in  color  'were  they !  from  the  deep  blue  which  bordered 
the  srolden  horizon,  throuo-h  all  the  color  varieties  of 
the  aurora  borealis  to  the  faintest  touch  of  amber  and 
almost  invisible  green,  yet  all  lit  up  with  the  still 
lingering  beams  of   the   now   far-distant  sun ;    while 


LA   MAG  IE  DC  COLORISr 


i^i 


away  off  in  the  northwest,  suspended,  as  it  ^vere,  like 
a  bright  electric  light,  over  the  coast  of  Asia  was  a 
single  planet  (I  know  not  Avhich)  struggling  in  her 
silvery  purity  for  a  place  in  this  superb  panorama  where 
none  of  her  lesser  sisters  dared  to  venture.  In  this 
surprising  effect  of  light  and  shade,  nature  gave  us  a 
wonderful  example  of  ^vhat  is  called  in  art  la  magie 
du  coloris.  And  thus  for  three  or  four  houi's  did  one 
day  resolve  itself  into  another,  Avithout  the  inter- 
mediate night.  Those  ^vho  went  to  bed  left  word 
Avith  friends  to  call  them  when  there  Avas  any  change 
of  scene  or  incident ;  others  dozed  in  the  social  hall, 
fearing  to  trust  themselves  to  sounder  sleep  ;  \vhlle 
many  had  their  chairs  and  blankets  brought  on  deck, 
^vhere  at  intervals  they  refreshed  themselves  with  hot 
coffee  abundantly  supplied  by  the  obliging  stewards. 
It  was  the  "dawn 


of  the  morning" 


on 


Saturday,  June  7th, 

when    we    first    sa^w 

floating  ice  ;  a  piece 

about  the   size  of  a 

I'ow-boat   and  about 

the  same  shape,  but 

it  was  lai'ge  enough 

to  serve  as  a  sio-nal 

to  awaken   tlie  sleepers,  so   that  in  a  few  minutes  the 

deck  was  peo})led  with  a  motley  crowd,  in  all  kinds 

of   incomplete   costume,   fi'om    a    shawl   and   skirt    to 

a  water  proof  and   a  pair  of  rubbers;  we  hurriedl\- 


{Kodak'd  by  Miss  Margaret  Watson.\ 


132 


A    Jl^OMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


got  down  to  our  normal  condition  however,  and  in  a 
little  while,  everybody  was  on  deck  attired  for  the 
day,  and  before  the  sun  i-ose  ^ve  had  passed  within  view 
a  glacier  on  our  left,  ^vhich  in  the  distance  resembled  a 
river  suddenly  frozen  and  held  in  solidity  by  the  vise- 
grip  of  two  lofty  mountains.  Rounding  the  cape  and 
pai'ting  company  Avith  the  beautiful  Fairweather  Mount- 
ains, we  are  wow  in  Glacier  Bay  steering  directl}'  uoi'th, 
with  the  Beardslee  cluster  of  picturesque  islands  on 
our  right  and  straggling  icebergs  all  around  us.  Ahead 
of  us,  in  the  distance,  is  Willoughby  Island,  and  our 
straiphtest  course  to  the  Mair  Glacier  would  leave  this 
island  on  the  left,  but  there  are  two  or  three  very  in- 
teresting glaciers  on  the  west  coast  of  Glacier  Bay 
\vdiich  Captain  Carroll,  with  characteristic  courtesy,  is 
anxiouf^  we  should  see,  so  he  makes  for  the  narrow 
channel  between  the  island  and  the  western  shore.  It 
was  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  entered  this 
passage,  which  I  should  judge  Avas  perhaps  half  a  mile 
wide  and  four  miles  in  length,   but  we  found  it  so 

densely  packed  with  icebergs 
and  floating  ice,  that  we  did 
not  extricate  ourselves  from 
it  until  noon  ;  in  other  words, 
our  progress  was  at  the  rate  of 
about  one  mile  an  hour.  Those 
Ave  hours  were  full  of  intense 
interest  and  excitement  and 
sometimes  of  anxiety.  I  do 
no  injustice  to  Captain  Carroll 


J 


[Kodak' li  by  Author.) 


AMIDST  THIi  ICIiBJiKGS.  133 

when  I  ventiiie  the  belief  that  if  he  liad  known  the 
real  condition  of  the  channel  he  wonld  have  taken  the 
easterly  conrse  ;  at  all  events  it  ^\'as  patent  to  every 
one  on  board,  fi'oni  the  pi'udence  with  which  the  ship 
was  handled  and  the  precautions  which  were  taken  to 
avert  any  too  violent  collision  with  the  hnge  floating 
masses  which  confronted  us,  that  the  occasion  was 
an  extraordinary  one.  These  icebergs  were  curious 
studies  ;  I  did  not  fail  to  realize  that  each  one  of  them 
outranked  in  age  any  other  moving  thing  I  had  ever 
seen,  save  perhaps  the  moon.  For  hundreds  of  years 
these  tons  and  tons  of  solid  ice  have  been  slowly 
foi'cing  their  Ava}'  d(>^\"ll  to  the  temperate  waters  of 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  bearing  upon  their  begrimed 
sides  and  ed2:es  the  evidence  of  fierce  strufrsfles  for 
freedom  with  the  rock-bonnd  passes  in  the  mountains, 
and  carrying  victoriously  aloft  the  massive  granite 
slabs  and  boulders  crunched  in  the  conflict.  Thicker 
and  thicker  grew  the  sea  of  ice,  larger  and  more 
threatening  the  bergs,  many  of  them  rising  to  the  level 
of  our  upper  deck  and  grazing  the  ship's  side  as  we 
slowly  foi'ged  ahead.  The  atmosphere  too  gre^v  thick 
and  threatening,  and  I  overheard  the  Captain  mutter, 
"  Pretty  place  to  be  caught  in  a  fog,''  as  he  peered 
anxiously  ahead  through  his  glasses.  Fortunately  I  had 
unlimited  and  not  misplaced  confidence  in  his  seaman- 
ship, otherwise  I  should  have  missed  the  exhilarating 
sensation  wdth  which  the  novel  surroundings  filled  me. 
For  the  first  time  on  the  trip,  it  became  (piite  cold 
and    damp — overcoats    and    ^vraps    were    in    demand. 


134  ^l    JVOMAA^'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

and  those  of  us  who  Avere  fortiiiiute  enough  to  find 
room  upon  the  phitfoiiu  in  rear  of  the  bridge,  were 
treated  to  as  beautiful  a  specimen  of  skilful  ship  steer- 
ing as  can  be  imagined.  The  Captain  had  been  at 
his  post  from  the  time  we  left  Sitka  on  the  previous 
evening,  still  he  showed  no  sign  of  fatigue ;  on  the 
contrary,  his  bead  and  eye  must  both  have  been 
uncommonly  clear  to  have  brought  so  large  an  ocean 
ship  through  such  a  field  of  obstacles  without  the 
slightest  accident.  I  know,  for  he  told  me  so,  that  he 
fully  expected  to  lose  one,  or  })ei'haps  two,  blades  of 
the  propeller,  and  I  could  see  by  the  contortions  of 
his  face  as  M-e  thumped  against  a  hundred  tons  of 
floating  ice  and  topped  it  over  bottom  up,  that  he  was 
not  quite  sure  of  the  result  when  the  great  ungainly 
mass  swung  back  again  toward  the  ship.  Constantly 
these  bergs,  as  they  split  in  half  under  the  [)ro\v  of  the 
steamer,  I'olled  over  and  exposed  the  red  paint,  Avhich 
too  j^h^iuly  told  of  l)lows  of  sharp  contact  with  our 
keel,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  Captain  Carroll,  who 
avo\ved  he  had  not  come  there  "  to  paint  Glacier  Bay 
red " ;  in  fact,  he  chafed  at  every  chafe.  I  learned 
that  it  was  of  great  importance  to  keep  the  ship  con- 
stantly moving  ahead,  even  though  her  advance  could 
be  measured  only  by  inches,  so  that  I  continually 
turned  my  eyes  to  some  tree  or  rock  upon  the  shore  to 
judge  by  this  fixed  object  whether  we  were  making 
progress,  for  the  current  was  cai'rying  the  ice  so 
fast  past  us  that  it  Avas  impossible  to  judge  whether 
the  apparent  headway  of  the  vessel  was  not  after  all  au 


A  MOMENT  OF  ANXIETY. 


135 


illusion.  Once,  and  only  once,  we  came  to  a  dead  stop ; 
the  surface  of  the  water  could  be  nowhere  seen ;  the 
narrow  channel  was  itself  a  glacier,  and  the  crunching 
masses  of  huge  slabs  of  marble  ice  which  choked  it 
piled  themselves  one  upon  the  other,  like  sheep  driven 
into  a  cul-de-sac.  It  was  a  moment  of  some  anxiety. 
The  men  seemed  to  realize  the 
peril  more  than  the  Avomen,  for 
they  had  been  intei'viewing  the 
sailors  and  had  learned  that  no 
such  ice-flow  had  been  encoun- 
tered since  Captain  Carroll  first 
explored  these  Avaters  seven 
years  before.  We  \\'omen  did 
not  at  the  moment  comprehend 
that  the  contact  of  the  pro- 
pellei'  with  one  of  these  bergs  {Kodak' d  h  Author.) 

might  render  the  ship  entirely  helpless  in  a  place 
beyond  the  reach  of  succor,  and  in  a  sea  Avhich  Avould 
pulverize  our  little  steam  launch  if  we  attempted  to 
use  her,  so  that  we  were  deprived  even  of  the  ability 
to  search  for  assistance  in  case  of  need.  Presently, 
however,  there  was  a  gentle  movement  of  the  machin- 
ery, a  little  commotion  among  the  icebergs  in  our  rear, 
a  grating  and  a  scraping  sound  which  was  echoed  over 
the  entire  field  l)}^  the  crackling  of  the  disintegrating 
ice,  and  looking  again  at  my  landmark  on  the  shore,  I 
found  we  were  once  more  pusliing  forward.  At  one 
time  the  Captain  ran  half-Avay  up  the  foremast,  glasses 
in  hand,   and  for  some  minutes,  like  the  picture  of 


136  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

Farragut  iu  Mobile  Bay,  shouted  his  orders  to  the 
wheel-house.  Then  ao-ain  resumiuo;  his  monotonous 
and  nervous  pacing  upon  the  bridge  from  port  to  star- 
board and  starboard  to  port,  he  steered  his.  immense 
vessel  with  such  dexterity  and  mathematical  precision 
that  as  the  cakes  of  ice  were  upturned  and  fell  grace- 
fully into  our  wake,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  course 
he  selected  was  the  one  of  least  resistance.  I  took  note 
of  a  few  of  the  expressions  whose  magnetic  influence 
twisted  and  turned  us  around  in  such  beautiful  curves, 
some  of  which  were  :  "  Starboard,  sir  ! "  "Slo\vher!" 
"  Why  don't  he  slow  her  when  I  tell  him ! "  "  Stop 
her ! "  "  Gro  tell  that  engineer  if  he  don't  obey  the  sig- 
nals cpiicker,  the  first  thing  he  knows  he  '11  have  one  of 
these  bei'gs  in  his  engine-room  !  "  "  Hard-a-port,  sir ! " 
''  Poi't  her  !  "  "  Steady  now  !  "  "  Keep  your  eye  on  the 
compass  there  !  "  "  Put  an  extra  man  at  the  Avheel !  " 
and  so  on,  doubtless  conveying  to  the  persons  for  whom 
they  were  intended  volumes  of  instruction,  but  to  me 
nothing  but  the  sense  of  security  Avith  which  his  general 
Avatchfulness  inspired  me. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  strain,  ^vhen  perhaps  the 
slightest  error  of  judgment  might  have  been  fraught 
with  disaster,  the  chief  steward  (it  was  his  first 
voyage  Avith  Captain  Carroll)  was  seen  ascending  the 
ladder  mth  a  bowl  of  nice  hot,  steaming  coifee  for 
our  able  commander,  who  at  that  moment  was  the 
cynosure  of  every  eye.  1  am  sure  everybody  felt  proud 
of  that  steward  ;  wanted  to  shake  him  by  the  hand; 
was   grateful  to   him;    wondered   why   they     hadn't 


' '  COFFEE f"     "NO,  THA NKS I"  137 

thouglit  of  it  themselves.  "I've  brought  you  a  cup 
of  coffee,"  mildly  whispered  the  ste^vard,  with  out- 
stretched hand.  "  Take  it  away,  sir  !  When  I  want 
coffee  I'll  send  for  it,"  shouted  the  skip[)er.  What 
became  of  the  steward  I  don't  know ;  but  I  do  know 
that  there  were  a  few  disjuncted  scraps  of  sentences 
floating  around  the  atmosphere  for  several  minutes, 
such  as  :  "  Nice  time  for  coffee  ! — Port  her  ! — Steady  ! 
— Pretty  time  to  Ije  drinking  coffee  ! — Starboard  a 
little  ! — Coffee,  indeed  ! — Slow  her,  sir  ! — -Slow  her,  I 
say ! — Coffee  !  "  It  is  proper  to  say,  however,  that 
a  few  hours  later  the  poor  affrighted  steward  was 
addressed  in  language  as  courtly  as  :  "I'll  take 
that  coffee  now,  ste^vard,  but  don't  ever  bother  me 
again  when   I've  got  my  hands  full." 

Of  course  it  is  very  difficult  to  convey  by  words 
any  appreciable  or  intelligent  idea  of  the  scene 
through  which  we  were  passing,  nor  can  I  hope 
to  do  so  fully  by  the  aid  of  my  camei*a ;  for  I 
find  that  where  the  ice  was  densest  the  atmosphere 
was  too  thick  to  secure  prints  which  would  bear  repro- 
duction ;  still,  those  ^vhich  I  obtained,  Avhen  the  fog 
lifted  in  spots  which  were  less  obstructed,  may  per- 
haps serve  the  purpose  measural:)ly.  I  can  only  say 
that,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  in  all  directions,  the 
ocean  was  covered  with  masses  of  ice,  varying  in  size 
from  that  of  a  laro-e  house  to  that  of  the  morning 
supply  at  the  area  gate  after  a  mikl  winter  ;  and  they 
were  of  all  imaginable  shapes — many  containing  deep 
caverns   with    stalactite    roofs ;    many   honey-combed 


13S  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

throngli  and  through  like  huge  white  coral  ;  some 
assumiug  the  forms  of  ludiau  teuts,  churches,  stables, 
and  ships ;  not  fantastic  creations,  but  so  marked  as 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  whole  ship's  company. 
But  the  coloring  was  even  more  remarkable,  the  pre- 
vailing tint  being  that  exquisite  blue  of  which  the 
tunpioise  is  perhaps  the  only  specimen,  spotted  here 
and  there  and  sometimes  half  clothed  with  a  covering 
of  sparkling  snow. 

When  at  last,  after  much  tribulation,  we  once 
more  reached  the  open  sea  l)etween  Willoughby 
Island  and  the  entrance  to  Muir  Inlet,  for  miles  along 
the  beach  of  Scidmore  Island  were  stranded  a  chain 
of  these  exquisite  turquoise  gems  which  excited 
oui*  admiration  to  the  highest  pitch.  Far  over  to  the 
left  were  the  three  glaciers  in  whose  honor  we  had 
passed  through  this  sea  of  troubles,  but  so  choked 
were  the  approaches  to  them  that  a  telescopic  view 
was  all  we  had,  yet  this  of  itself  ^ras  worth  coming 
for ;  while  far  oif  towards  the  horizon  on  the  right 
were  clustered  together  a  squadron  of  floating  pyra- 
mids, Avhose  white  sides  and  uniformity  of  shape 
brought  vividly  to  mind  the  regatta  scenes  of  NeAvport 
and  New  London,  where  for  hours  the  fleet  remains 
at  anchor  waitinof  for  the  wind.  We  are  now  at  the 
mouth  of  Muir  Inlet :  the  great  glacier  is  in  front  of 
us,  but  only  in  faint  outline  as  yet ;  the  lunch  bell  has 
sounded,  and  we  are  told  that  before  the  meal  is  fin- 
ished we  Avill  be  at  anchor  within  the  shadow  of  this 
world's  wonder.     So  to  lunch  we  go,  and  while  I  am 


THE  }TUIR  GLACTER.  139 

there,  you,  my  daiiLi'liter,  may  familiarize  yourself  as  1 
did  with  wliat  lias  ali-eady  been  written  of  it,  which,  to 
save  you  much  trouble  and  research,  I  will  epitomize 
as  follows  :  The  Muir  Glacier  is  situate  at  the  head  of 
Glacier  Bay  about  eight  hundred  miles  fi'oni  Tacoma, 
our  starting  point.  It  is  one  of  many  outlets  of  the 
enormous  field  of  o-lacial  ice  which  stellates  from  a  centre 
ahout  fifteen  miles  back  of  the  Muir  front,  and  covers 
the  valleys  of  the  yet  unexplored  mountains  bet\veen 
the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  head-waters  of  the  great 
Yukon  River  (said  to  be  the  largest  river  on  the  glol^e). 
The  area  Avhich  the  glacier  covers  is  as  yet  unknown, 
though  beyond  doubt  the  human  e^'e  can  follow  it  for 
a  distance  of  forty  miles,  look  across  it  fifteen  miles, 
and  has  located  sixteen  other  lesser  glaciers  which  are 
tributary  to  it.  It  derives  its  name  very  properly 
from  Pi'of.  John  Muir,  the  State  Geologist  of  California, 
who,  as  far  as  is  known,  was  the  first  white  man  to 
visit  it ;  Vancouver  and  the  early  navigators  and  ex- 
plorers, although  familiar  with  the  enormous  outflow 
of  ice,  not  having  had  the  intrepidity  or  perhaps  the 
equipment  necessary  to  penetrate  beyond  the  entrance 
to  the  bay  (Captain  James  Carroll,  no\v  of  the  Queen, 
but  in  1883  commaudino;  the  IdaJio,  beino;  the  first 
seaman  to  approach  within  reasonable  distance  and 
come  to  anchor  within  full  view  of  it).  In  fact,  it  is 
only  eleven  years  ago  (1879)  since  Professor  Muir  first 
saw  it  from  an  Indian  canoe,  and  it  is  exceedingly 
doubtful  w^hether  five  thousand  Avhite  people  all  told 
have  ever  seen  it,  though  I  have  little  doubt  that  a 


140  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

greater  number  than  that  will  visit  it  aDiiiially  here- 
after, the  trouble  of  getting  there  being  reduced  to  a 
luxury,  and  the  result  more  delightful  than  that  which 
has  ever  yet  rewarded  the  searcher  for  the  beautiful 
and  wonderful  in  nature. 

The  ^valls  w^hich  l)Ound  the  Muir  Glacier  on  either 
side  vary  in  height  from  three  thousand  two  hun- 
dred to  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
ice,  and  where  the  slow-moving  mass  emerges  from 
the  jaws  of  this  vise  of  rock,  the  glacier  is  three 
miles  in  ^vidth  and  five  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  bay,  but  from  this  point  down  towards 
the  water  it  narrows  its  width  until,  at  the  w^ater- 
front,  it  becomes  clogged  between  the  barren  moraines 
which  it  itself  has  created,  and  finds  its  passage  to  the 
sea  limited  to  a  front  of  just  one  mile.  Its  facade  at 
this  ]^)oint  is  in  some  places  three  hundred  and  fifty  or 
four  hundred  feet  above  water,  and  at  others  two 
hundred  feet  (Captain  Carroll  once,  in  the  month  of 
June,  measured  it  with  the  sextant  and  found  it  to  be 
in  many  places  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet  high), 
and  as  there  are  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  fathoms 
of  water  immediately  in  its  front,  and  the  ice,  of  course, 
does  not  float,  but  is  sunken  deep  into  the  bottom  of 
the  inlet,  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  there  is  a  front- 
age of  ice  measuring  from  base  to  summit  between 
eight  hundi'ed  and  one  thousand  feet.  It  here  breaks 
off  in  immense  bodies  w^eighing  from  one  to  five  hun- 
dred tons  each,  and  floats  with  the  tide  towards  the 
open   sea,    disintegrating   and    melting   as   it   travels. 


THE  MUIR  GLACIER.  141 

Owing  perhaps  to  the  fact  that  the  water  is  deeper  at 
the  centre  than  at  the  sides,  the  glacier  protrudes  much 
farther  at  this  point  than  in  the  shallower  Avater  near 
the  shores,  where  there  is  more  resistance,  Av^hich  gives 
the  front  an  irregular  formation,  somewhat  as  of  two 
concaves  meetinsi;  in  the  centre.  Two  interestintr 
theories,  if  not  abundantly  demonstrated  by  proof,  are 
at  all  events  accepted  as  true  by  scientists,  viz. :  first, 
that  the  front  of  the  glacier  is  gradually  receding  from 
the  inlet ;  and  second,  that  the  mass  of  ice  itself  is  just 
as  surely  moving  towards  the  inlet,  but  the  recession 
so  far  exceeds  the  accession  that  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  ice  in  some  past  period  extended  to  the 
very  mouth  of  the  bay  itself,  and  that  Willoughby 
Island  owes  its  present  barren  surface,  and  its  deep 
grooves  and  furrows,  to  the  action  of  this  very  glacier. 
There  are  as  many  different  explanations  of  this  reces- 
sion as  there  are  writings  u])on  the  subject,  and  I  should 
be  out  of  the  fashion  did  I  not  advance  an  additional 
pet  one  of  my  own.  It  is  well  known  that  the  salubrity 
of  the  climate  in  Puget  Sound  and  on  the  North  Pacific 
coast  generally  is  due  to  the  ^varm  Japanese  current, 
producing  effects  similar  to  those  occasioned  by  the 
Gulf  Stream  on  the  Atlantic.  This  curi'ent  becomes 
charged  with  the  heat  of  the  tropics  at  the  equator, 
and  retains  it  in  its  northerly  course  through  the 
Orient  and  along  the  coast  of  Asia,  until  it  sweeps 
around  and  skirts  the  coast  of  British  Columbia  and 
the  State  <^f  Washington  on  its  return  home,  to  become 
again  surcharged  with  the  warmth  it  has  distributed 


142  A    WOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

in  the  colder  waters  ol*  the  Xortli.  The  sphere  of  this 
warm  stream's  action  may  be  widening  ;  widening  for 
the  wise  purpose  of  thawing  out  a  wealth  of  soil  and 
metal  wliicli  as  yet  is  not  needed.  Tt  may  take  cen- 
tui'ies,  perhaps,  to  convert  the  valleys  of  tlie  mountain 
ranges,  now  ice-clogged,  into  nourishing  rivers,  but  the 
process  may  be  going  on,  and  if  it  is,  no  power  to  pro- 
duce it  can  be  more  potent  than  this  great  gulf  stream 
of  the  Pacific.  It  will  probably  never  be  ascertained 
how  lono^  a  time  it  has  taken  for  the  o'lacier  to  fall 
back  from  Willonghby  Island  to  its  present  position, 
and  it  certainly  has  not  yet  been  determined  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy  at  what  rate  of  speed  the  vast  body 
of  ice  is  moving  towards  the  point  of  dissolntion  ;  but 
it  is  generally  agreed,  and  I  presume  we  will  have  to 
accept  it,  that  forty  feet  a  day  is  the  average  motion 
(by  average  I  mean  that  it  moves  twice  or  three  times 
as  fast  in  the  centre  as  at  the  sides).  Now  the  glacier 
being  over  five  thousand  feet  wide,  and  at  least  eight 
hundred  feet  high,  and  ])reaking  off  at  the  rate  of  forty 
feet  each  day,  it  follows  that  one  hundred  and  sixty 
millions  of  cuhicfeet  of  ice  break  off  from  tlie  facade  of 
the  Muir  Glacier  every  twenty  four  hours.  (Hereafter 
the  Swiss  7ner  de  glace  will  have  to  be  printed  in  very 
small  ty[)e.)  Prof.  G.  Frederick  Wright  and  a  })arty  of 
scientific  friends  visited  the  glacier  in  August,  1886, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  investigations  of  its  glacial 
phenomena.  His  paper,  published  by  the  Alaskan 
Society  of  Natural  History  and  Ethnology,  is  very 
interesting,  especially  u[)on  the  subject  of  the  recession 


THE  M[7R  (^LACf/iR.  143 

of  the  ice  front,  f i-oiii  ^v]licll  I  conclude  that  e.'icli  succeed- 
ing year  the  glory  of  its  immensity  somewhat  diminishes 
After  stating  his  i-easons  for  his  faith,  lie  says  :  ''  Thus 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  during  the  earlier 
23art  of  this  century  the  ice  filled  the  inlet  several 
miles  further  down  than  now.  And  there  can  scarcely 
be  less  doubt  that  the  glaciei'  then  filled  the  inlet 
1,000  or  1,500  feet  above  its  })resent  level  near  the 
front.''  And  to  those  for  Avliom  figures  serve  as  a 
guide,  I  may  add  upon  the  authority  of  Prof.  Wright, 
as  follows  :  "  The  total  amount  of  water  which  in  some 
form  annually  passes  into  the  inlet  from  the  1,200 
square  miles  of  ice  which  compose  the  glacier  is  267,- 
632,640,000  cubic  feet;  of  this  amount  77,088,000,000 
feet  pass  in  the  form  of  ice,  with  835,473,236  feet  of 
sediment." 


MUIR    GLACIER    Ai    A    DlblAM_L. 
(JCodak'd  hy  Author.') 


CHAPTER  X. 


'HE  previous  chapter  has  briefly 
outlined  the  main  facts  within  my 
knowledge  concerning  the  Muir 
Glacier  which  I  had  gathered  from 
my  reading,  and  upon  which  I  had 
to  create  the  image  of  what  I  ex- 
pected to  see.  True,  I  had  seen 
photographs  of  it ;  yes,  and  I  had 
seen  photographs  of  the  Canyon 
of  the  Yellowstone,  and  of  the 
Nevada  Falls,  and  of  Niagara,  just  as  I  have  seen 
paste  diamonds ;  I  lvne\v  their  shapes,  and  that  is 
all  I  ever  gathered  fi'om  their  portraits.  Neither 
the  expression  nor  the  complexion,  nor  the  sound  of 
the  voice  of  nature  are  to  be  found  upon  the  dull  sur- 
face of  the  photograph ;  you  simply  get  the  general 
lines,  some  of  the  shadows,  very  erroneous  perspective, 
and  that  is  all.  We  had  come  to  a  standstill  while  we 
were  at  lunch.  I  had  observed  the  slackening  of  speed ; 
next  the  stoppage  of  the  machinery  ;  then  the  absolute 
stillness  of  the  ship ;  and  finally  a  darkening  of  the 
saloon.  We  were  evidently  at  a  halt  under  the  shadow 
of  some  immense  elevation.  A  passenger  on  tiptoe  looked 


THii  }rrrK  (^LACrnR.  145 

tlirougli  tlie  _[)()rt-h(>le,  and  uttered  an  exclaniutioii  of 
aiiiazeinent ;  tlien  we  all  rushed  to  similar  apertures  ; 
climbed  on  the  chairs,  looked  over  the  men's  shoul- 
ders, in  fact,  did  all  kinds  of  unreasonable  things,  and 
at  Last  stampeded  up  the  companion-way,  to  the  deck. 
I  pray  Heaven  that  neither  age  nor  infirmity  may  evei' 
efface  from  my  memory  the  sight  and  the  sensation  of 
that  moment.  To  say  that  I  Avas  transfixed,  speech- 
less, fascinated  to  intoxication  by  the  spell  of  this 
marvellous  development,  is  no  exaggeration.  Those 
who  reached  the  deck  first  seemed  paralyzed,  halted, 
and  thus  blocked  the  way  for  those  who  ^vere  to 
follow ;  others  kept  within  the  saloon  from  choice,  as 
though  they  dreaded  some  phenomenal  convulsion.  I 
wedged  my  way  as  best  I  could,  after  the  first  shock 
of  amazement  had  subsided,  up  to  the  very  bow  of  the 
ship. 

Uj^on  each  side  of  me,  half  a  mile  away,  rose  the 
same  old  mountains  which  I  had  seen,  everywhere 
fromTacoma  north;  at  my  feet,  the  same  Pacific  Ocean, 
])ut  in  front  of  me,  apparently  so  close  that  I  could 
almost  reach  it  with  my  fingers,  the  perpendicular  wall 
of  a  canyon,  not  of  rock,  nor  clay,  nor  grass,  nor  forest, 
but  of  ice — a  wall  of  ice  a  mile  in  length  ; — and  when 
I  say  a  mile  I  mean  over  eighteen  hundred  yards  of  it ; 
and  when  I  speak  of  ice,  I  do  not  mean  the  sutty 
porous  stuff  that  lodges  in  the  valleys  of  the  Alps ;  I 
mean  the  veritable,  pure,  clear,  crystal  ice  of  the  ice 
pitcher.  A  wall  a  hundred  yards  high  and  in  some 
places  towering  up  an  additional  fifty  ;  a  wall  extend- 


Tim  MUIR  (; LACIER.  147 

ing  down  deeper  in  tlie  ocean  tluiu  it  readies  Fi-oiii  tlie 
ocean  to  tlie  sky, — hard  as  adamant,  sharp  and  edited 
like  flint,  aqua-marine  in  cohn-,  deepening  towards 
the  water  into  indigo,  tipped  on  the  summits  and  pro- 
jections with  a  fi'oth  of  snow.  If  I  did  not  kno\v^  that 
it  was  ice,  I  should  Ijelieve  that  it  Avas  glass.  If 
I  did  not  kn<)\v  that  it  was  the  ^vork  of  the  Cre- 
ator, I  sliould  believe  that  here  had  assembled  a  con- 
vocation of  architects,  who  in  their  collective  ingenuity 
had  reproduced  a  combination  of  the  chefi<-d\ieuvre 
of  their  art ;  for  here  were  the  buttresses  of  the  Eng- 
lish a1)beys  and  flying  buttresses  of  Notre  Dame, 
turrets  of  the  Normans,  towers  of  the  early  English, 
spires  of  the  cathedral  in  Cologne,  ^vonderful  unoccu- 
pied niches,  pilasters  of  the  purest  ^vhite  marble  and 
green  malachite,  and  decorative  carving  and  high  polish 
worthy  of  Cellini.  It  was  a  cloudy  day,  yet  the  front 
glistened  with  prismatic  splendor.  What  will  it  be,  I 
asked  myself,  if  in  the  afternoon  the  setting  sun  shall 
light  it  up?  But  we  are  too  close  to  it  for  our  own 
safety,  we  learn,  and  are  slowly  moved  back  half  a  mile, 
where  our  anchor  is  dropped  and  preparations  are 
made  to  row  us  on  shore  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the 
glacier.  While  we  are  moving,  a  sharp  detonation 
riu2;s  out  like  the  firino^  of  a  i-iile,  and  one  of  the  beau- 
tiful  spires  on  the  crest  of  the  very  centre  of  the  wall 
is  shivered  into  atoms,  and  its  fragments  fall  with  a 
splash  four  hundred  feet.  Later,  there  is  a  report  as  of 
a  cannon,  but  without  result ;  this  we  are  told  is  the 
parting  of  the  sea  of  ice   somewhere  far  back  in  its 


I4S  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

moiuituiu  home ;  presently  two  similar  explosions, 
evidently  right  close  to  us,  followed  by  rumbling 
echoes,  and  over  topples  a  huge  mass  weighing  tons, 
which  sinks  so  far  that  several  seconds  elapse  before  it 
rises  to  the  surface,  s\vaying  to  and  fro  until  it  finds  its 
equilibrium,  and  then  floats  down  the  current,  one  more 
turquoise  gem  added  to  the  chain  which  precedes  it. 

And  this  continued  all  day,  sometimes  at  intervals 
of  seconds  only,  sometimes  of  half  an  hour,  and  when 
we  retired  at  night  the  explosion  and  the  splash 
became  as  monotonous  and  periodical  as  the  tinkling 
of  the  street-car  bell,  or  the  footstep  of  the  passer-by, 
does  at  home.  There  was  one  tremendous  breaking  off 
towards  evening ;  the  sun,  as  we  had  hoped,  was  out 
in  full  glory,  and  at  the  distance  from  which  we  now 
viewed  the  glacier  it  was  a  mountain  of  snow-cov^ered 
ice,  chopped  off  in  f  I'ont.  For  many  miles  we  could  see 
over  and  beyond  the  fayade,  as  though  looking  at  a 
great  river  of  snow  ;  yet  the  facade  itself  was  a  face  of 
corrugated  emerald  reflecting  the  sun's  rays  at  every 
imaginable  angle,  and  changing  and  scintillating  with 
every  movement  of  the  ship.  Suddenly,  near  the 
centre,  the  top  began  to  incline  forward,  and  the  whole 
face  of  probably  twenty  yards  in  width,  from  the  top 
of  the  glacier  to  the  bottom  of  the  bay,  fell  outwards 
as  a  ladder  would  fall,  without  a  break  anywhere. 
There  was  a  tremendous  upheaving  of  the  water,  of 
course,  then  the  report  of  the  invariable  explosion 
reached  us,  but  no  trace  remained  of  the  fallen  ice, 
save  the  swell  in  the  water,  which  had  almost  reached 


THE  MUIR  GLACIER.  149 

and  rocked  tlie  steamer.  T  do  not  kno\v  how  mncli 
time  elapsed  before  the  lovely  thing  rose  to  the  sui-face, 
but  it  seemed  an  age,  and  then  it  came  in  a  dozen 
pieces,  each  of  the  same  exquisite  diaplianous  blue, 
which  as  they  approached  us  gi'a<lually  changed  to  a 
clear  transparent  sapphire.  If  it  will  help  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  giving  a  just  idea  of  the  colossal  })ropor- 
tions  of  the  scene  I  endeavor  to  describe,  let  me  say 
that  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  the  City  Hall  in 
Philadelphia,  the  Cathedral,  Eipiitable,  and  the  Mills 
Buildings  in  Xe^v  York,  and  all  the  mammoth  news- 
paper offices  in  the  same  city,  might  be  floated  in  front 
of  the  Muir  Glacier,  and  yet  its  emerald  avails  would 
overtop  and  engulf  them  all.  As  a  contrast  to  all  that 
is  pure  and  chaste  in  the  scene  before  ns,  there  rushes 
out  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  glacier  a  sub-glacial 
stream  of  thick  dirty  water,  much  I'esembling,  as  it 
boils  up  from  its  cavernous  outlet,  the  mud  geyser  of 
the  Yellowstone ;  this  is  a  perpetually  flowing  river 
charo;ed  with  sediment  and  deljrU,  from  the  scouring: 
process  produced  by  the  friction  of  the  moving  ice 
along  its  bed  of  rock ;  it  gives  the  water  in  the  inlet  a 
thick  gray  color,  utterly  destroying  the  charm  of  its 
otherwise  trans})arent  character. 

If  you  are  amiable  enough  to  say  that  what  I  have 
written  gives  a  sufficiently  correct  idea  of  what  you 
expect  to  see,  I  beg  to  differ  with  you.  No  camera, 
no  pencil,  no  vocabulary  can  do  more  than  produce  a 
desire  to  see  for  one's  self,  I  can  only  say  that  it  has 
been   my   fortune  to   behold  unich  that  is  grand  in 


I50  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

nature  and  in  art  at  home  and  a])road,  but  the  hours 
spent  at  Muir  Ghicier  made  the  great  event  of  my  life. 
If  God  spares  me  I  hope  to  see  it  often.  And  fearing 
I  might  be  accused  of  exaggerating,  ^vhich  is  far  from 
my  desire,  for  I  am  searching  in  vain  for  superhitives 
which  would  do  the  subject  justice,  let  me  quote  from 
others  who  have  preceded  me,  and  all  of  whom  have 
established  their  reputation  as  authorities  : 

Miss  Kate  Field  says  :  "  In  Switzerland  a  glacier  is 
a  vast  bed  of  dirty  airdioled  ice  that  has  fastened 
itself,  like  a  cold  porous  plaster,  to  the  side  of  an  Alp. 
Distance  alone  lends  enchantment  to  the  view.  In 
Alaska  a  glacier  is  a  wonderful  torrent  that  seems  to 
have  been  suddenly  frozen  when  about  to  plunge  into 
the  sea.  .  .  .  Think  of  Niagara  Falls  frozen  stiff,  add 
thirty-six  feet  to  its  height,  and  you  have  a  slight  idea 
of  the  terminus  of  Muir  Glacier,  in  front  of  which 
your  steamer  anchors  ;  picture  a  background  of  mount- 
ains fifteen  thousand  feet  high,  all  snow-clad,  and  then 
imagine  a  gorgeous  sun  lighting  up  the  ice  crystals 
with  rainbow  colorino;.  The  face  of  the  o-lacier  takes 
on  the  hue  of  aqua-marine,  the  hue  of  every  bit  of 
floating  ice,  big  and  little,  that  sui-round  the  steamer 
and  make  navigation  serious.  These  dazzling  serpents 
move  at  the  rate  of  sixty-four  feet  a  day,  tumbling 
headlong  into  the  sea,  and,  as  they  fall,  the  ear  is 
startled  by  submarine  thunder,  the  echoes  of  which  re- 
sound far  and  near.  Down,  down,  down  goes  the  berg, 
and  woe  to  the  boat  in  its  way  when  it  rises  again  to 
the  surface." 


THE  MUIR  (; LACIER.  151 

CiiaelesIIallock  in  ''  Our  New  Alaska,"  pp.  172-3  : 
"The  glacier  wall  overliung  us  with  its  mighty  maj- 
esty, three  times  the  height  of  the  steamer's  mast,  or 
more,  and  we  seemed  none  too  far  away  to  escape  the 
constantly  cleav^iug  masses  which  dropped  from  its 
face  with  deafenini^:  detonations.  The  foam  whicli  2;ath- 
ered  from  the  impetus  of  the  plunges  surged  u[)\v^ard 
fully  two-thirds  of  the  height  of  the  cliff,  and  the  result- 
ing swell  tossed  the  large  steamer  like  a  toy,  and  rolled 
up  in  breakers  of  surf  upon  the  beach.  .  .  .  The  glacier 
is  by  no  means  smooth,  but  is  seamed  and  riven  in 
every  part  by  clefts  and  fissures.  It  is  hollowed  into 
caverns  and  grottoes,  hung  with  massive  stalactites, 
and  fashioned  into  pinnacles  and  domes.  Eveiy  section 
and  configuration  has  its  heart  of  translucent  blue  or 
green,  interlaced  or  boi-dered  l)y  fretted  frost-work  of 
intensest  white  ;  so  that  the  appearance  is  at  all  times 
gnome-like  and  supernatural.  ...  I  cannot  conceive 
how  any  one  can  sit  by  and  contemplate  without  emo- 
tion the  stupendous  throes  which  give  birth  to  the  ice- 
bergs, attended  with  detonations  like  explosions  of 
artillery,  and  reverberations  of  thunder  across  the  sky, 
and  the  mighty  wreckage  which  follows  each  convul- 
sion. Nevei'theless  I  have  seen  a  lady  loll  with  com- 
plaisance in  her  steamer  chair,  comfortably  wrapped 
for  the  chill)'  air,  and  observe  the  astounding  scene 
with  the  same  languid  contemplation  that  she  ^vould 
discuss  her  social  fixtures  and  aj^pointments.  Zounds  ! 
I  believe  that  such  a  human  negation  would  calndy 
view  the  wreck  of  worlds,  and  hear  the  crack  of  doom 


f52  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

at  the  final  rendering,  if  it  did  not  aft'ect  "lier  set." 
She  could  watch  at  a  suitable  distance  the  agony  of 
Chi'istian  martyrs,  the  carnage  of  gi'eat  battles,  the 
sweep  of  cyclones,  the  diluvial  submergence.  Dyna- 
mite would  not  a[)[)all  her,  but  to  me  it  would  be  the 
acme  of  satisfaction,  ineffably  supreme,  to  startle  such 
clods  of  inanition  by  a  cry  of  mouse,  and  electrify 
them  into  a  momentary  emotion.  No  vinaigrette  would 
ever  mitigate  the  shock." 

Maiitix  M.  Ballou  in  "  The  New  Eldorado — a  Sum- 
mer Journey  to  Alaska,"  pp.  276-7:  "The  roar  of 
artillery  upon  a  battle-field  could  hardly  l)e  more 
deafening  or  incessant  than  were  the  thrilling  reports 
caused  by  the  falling  of  vast  masses  of  ice  from  the 
glacier's  front.  Nothing  could  be  grander  or  more  im- 
pressive than  this  steady  bombai'dment  from  the  ice 
mountain  in  its  resistless  progress  towards  the  sea. 
Neither  Norway  nor  Switzerland  have  any  glacial  or 
Arctic  scenery  that  can  approach  this  bay  in  its  frigid 
splendor.  .  .  .  The  author,  in  a  varied  experience  of 
many  parts  of  the  world,  recalls  but  two  other  occa- 
sions which  affected  him  so  powerfully  as  this  first 
visit  to  Glacier  Bay  in  Alaska,  namely,  witnessing  the 
sun  rise  over  the  vast  Himalayan  range,  the  roof- tree 
of  the  globe,  at  Dargelling,  in  Northern  India,  and  the 
view  of  the  midnight  sun  from  the  Noi'th  Cape  in 
Norway,  as  it  hung  over  the  Polar  Sea.  Our  power  of 
appreciation  is  limitless,  though  that  of  description 
is  circumscribed.  Here  both  are  challenged  to  their 
utmost  capacity.     Words  are  insufiicient,  pen  and  j)en- 


THE  MUIK  GLACIliR.  153 

cil  imidecjuate  to  convey  tlie  graiidtnir  and  fascination 
of  the  scene." 

Mrs.  E.  R.  Scidmore  in  ''Journeys  in  Alaska": 
"  Avalanches  of  crumbling  ice  and  great  pieces  of  the 
front  wei'e  continually  falling  with  the  roar  and  ci'ash 
of  artillery,  revealing  new  caverns  and  rifts  of  deeper 
blue  light,  while  the  spray  dashed  high  and  the  great 
waves  rolled  along  the  icy  wall,  and  ^videlling  in  their 
sweep,  washed  the  blocks  of  floating  ice  up  on  the 
beaches  on  either  side.  .  .  .  The  nearer  one  ap- 
pR)ached,  the  higher  the  ice  walls  seemed,  and  all 
along  the  front  there  were  pinnacles  and  spires  weigh- 
ing several  tons,  that  seemed  on  the  point  of  toppling 
every  moment.  The  great  buttresses  of  ice  that  rose 
first  from  the  water  and  touched  the  moraine,  were  as 
solidly  white  as  marble,  veined  and  streaked  with 
rocks  and  mud,  but  further  on,  as  the  j)ressure  was 
greater,  the  color  slowly  deepened  to  turquoise  and 
sapphire  blues." 

Alexander  Badlam  in  his  "  AVonders  of  Alaska," 
p.  42,  quotes  Prof.  Muir  himself  as  saying,  that  the 
front  and  bro^v  of  the  glacier  were  "  dashed  and  sculpt- 
ured into  a  maze  of  yawning  chasms,  ravines,  canyons, 
crevasses  and  a  bemldering  chaos  of  architectui'al 
forms,  beautiful  beyond  the  measure  of  description, 
and  so  bewildering  in  their  beauty  as  to  almost  make 
the  spectator  believe  he  was  revelling  in  a  dream." 
"There  were,"  he  said,  "  gi'eat  clusters  of  glistening 
spires,  gables,  obelisks,  monoliths  and  castles,  standing 
out  boldly  against  the   sky,  with  bastion   and  mural. 


154 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


surmounted  by  fretted  cornice,  and  every  interstice  and 
chasm  reflecting  a  sheen  of  scintidating  light  and  deep 
blue  shadow,  making  a  combination  of  color,  dazzling, 
startling,  and  enchanting." 

The  next  sensation  in  store  for  the  tourist  is  the 
climb  to  the  top  of  the  glacier.  All  the  row-boats  were 
lowered,  and  about  a  dozen  passengers  in  each,  armed 
with  alpenstocks,  Avere  ferried  in  successive  gi'oups 
from  the  ship  to  the  eastern  beach,  a  distance  of  per- 
haps half  a  mile,  instructions  being  given  to  each 
steersman  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  falling  icebergs. 
And  here  your  trouble  commences  nnless  you  are  well 
advised.  The  ascent  is  exceedingly  difficult ;  what 
looks  like  a  mountain   of  rock  over  which   you  must 

wend    your    way  to     _ 

the  ice-fields,  is  really 
a  mountain  of  ice 
covered  by  a  laj^er 
of  slimy  mud,  crust- 
ed Avith  pieces  of 
flinty  granite,  stand- 
ing up  on  end  like 
broken  bottle  glass 
on  the  top  of  a  wall. 
I  wore  india-rubber 
high  boots  ^vhen  I 
started,  and  I  need- 
ed crutches  before  I 
finished.  It  may  be 
chilly  as   you  leave 


THE   CLIMB. 

{Kodak' d  by 
Miss  M.    IValson.) 


V- 


THE   TOP  OF  MUIR  GLACIKK.  155 

the  ship,  according  as  the  sun  may  be  out  or  in  ;  if  ("hilly, 
get  your  escort  to  carry  an  extra  shawl  for  you  to  wrap 
yourself  in  when  you  row  back  to  the  ship  ;  if  the 
weather  is  bright  audwarm,  clothe  yourself  lightly,  for 
it  grows  warmer  Avith  the  glare  from  the  ice  and  the 
physical  exertion.  Be  very  careful  where  you  step,  and 
if  you  are  wise,  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  others ; 
do  not  undertake  to  lead,  else  one  foot  may  be  trying 
to  ascertain  the  depth  of  a  (piagmire  and  the  other 
exploring  a  fissure.  After  an  ascent  of  perhaps  two  and 
a  half  miles,  which  seem  more  like  ten,  you  will  find 
yourself  on  the  edge  of  a  frozen  sea,  frozen,  as  it  were, 
while  in  the  throes  of  a  tempest,  a  bay  of  storm-tossed 
waves  solidified  as  by  a  signal ;  and  this  extends  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach  up  into  the  mountains  towards  the 
north,  and  several  miles  across  to  the  hills  upon  the 
opposite  shore.  The  ice  is  by  no  means  clear  or  brilliant, 
on  the  contrary  its  color  is  milky  and  its  formation 
honey-combed,  plastic,  porous,  and  yielding  to  the  tread  ; 
besides  which  it  is  besmeared  with  sediment  from 
mountain  thaws  ^vhich  have  traversed  its  rifts,  and 
disfigured  by  fallen  logs  and  drift-wood.  I  confess 
that  if  I  visited  Muir  Glacier  a  hundred  times  I  should 
always  remain  on  deck  and  watch  the  pyrotechnics  of 
the  fa(;ade  rather  than  undergo  the  thankless  fatigue 
of  climbing  to  the  top,  which  is  infinitely  more  lal)ori- 
ous  than  the  ascent  of  Vesuvius  on  foot  tlirough  the 
lava,  or  any  work  to  be  done  on  the  trails  of  the 
Yosemite.  To  those  who  are  willing  to  undertake  it, 
however,  I  suggest  that  when  they  have  ascended  the 


THE  TOP  OF  MUIR  GLACIER.  157 


ON  TOP. — (A'odak'd  I'V  J\Iiss  Margaret  J I 'a/son.) 

first  mile,  wliicli  Avill  about  Ijriug  tliein  011  a  line  with 
tlie  t(:)[>  of  the  wall  of  the  glacier,  they  should  look 
back  at  their  little  tiny  ship,  floating  like  the  Maid  of 
the  Mist  beneath  Niagara,  to  fully  realize  the  immense 
proportions  of  the  glacier. 

It  is  said  that  persons  have  been  missed  and  never 
again  found  who  made  this  ascent,  and  I  knoAV  that 
at  least  one  case  is  authentic,  that  of  a  young  clergy- 
man, who,  straying  away  from  his  companions,  was 
never  ascain  seen,  thous^h  the  most  dilisj'ent  search  was 
made  for  him  l)y  his  friends  and  the  ship's  cre^v. 
A  slip  into  one  of  those  crevasses,  Av^hich  is  covered 
by  a  thin  coat  of  ice,  means  to  be  precipitated  in  an 
instant  to  a  depth  where  no  human  aid  can  reach  }'ou. 
In  fact  I  would  advise  all  avIio  wish  to  preserve  the 
impression  of  Muir  Glacier  in  its  pure,  idealized, 
unsullied  grandeur,  to  stay  aboard  and  gaze  on  its 
beautiful  face.  It  is  a  Persian  custom,  after  pluck- 
ing the  fruit,  to  tear  it  asunder  in  the  middle,  hand 


158 


A    JFOMAN'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


the  suiiuy  side  to  tlie  friend  aud  throw  tlie  other 
half  away,  the  best  portion  being  the  only  part  gcxjd 
enough  for  those  they  love.  It  is  my  duty  to  present 
to  you  the  better  half  of  the  glacier  and  to  cast  a^vay 
the  other.  Tired,  footsore,  and  muddy,  we  ^vere  all 
early  in  bed,  and  while  dozing  to  sleep  I  was  much 
impressed  with  the  awful  stillness  of  the  hour ;  every- 
body had  retired,  not  even  the  tread  of  the  man  on 
watch  was  heard,  the  very  machinery  was  sleeping,  but 
every  now  and  then  there  ^vas  a  splash  and  a  report 
and  an  echo  that  brought  with  them  the  proof  that  the 
forces  of  nature  were  ever  awake,  and  that  what  was, 
"  is,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  without  end." 


CIIArTEK  XI. 


IIEKE  Avas   no    liuny  to  l^e  up  and 
oft'    on    Sunday    morning,  June   stli. 
A\'lien  I  aAvoke  Ave  v/ere  still    King 
at  anclior  in  front  of  the  glacier,  and 
I   A\  as  told  by    my    felloAV-passengers 
that    an    innnen.se    slice    of    the    Avail 
had    3'ielded    to    the     pressiu'e     and 
jumped  ovei'-board  during  the  night.     And 
Avhen  I  came  on  deck  I  saAV  this  nuist  be 
so,  for  a  bright,  neA\'  green    sui'face    to    the 
ice  front  Avas   presented,    entirely   free   from 
the  snowdrifts  Avliich  I    had 
seen    there    yesterday,     and 
there  Avere  many  more  Hoat- 
ino;  bero-s  than  A\dien  I  had 
I'etired.       We  noAV  di-opped 
doAvn  the  bay  a  mile  or  two 
into  the  field  of  ice  again,  and 
for  tw^o  or  three  hours  occu- 
pied our  time  in  tilling  the 
hold  of  the  ship  Avitli  beauti- 
ful sparkling    blocks    of    it, 

al)OUt  fort\'  tons,    which     was  [From  Kodak  bv  Miss  M.  D.  Beach. 


i6o  A    jrOJ/AX\S    TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

to  last  the  sliip  for  all  [»iir[)()ses  until  she  returned  again 
in  two  weeks.  A  couple  of  1)i)ats  Avere  lowered  and 
manned  with  sailors  armed  \\\\\\  picks,  hooks,  and 
axes ;  these  men  first  shaped  tlie  ice  while  in  the  Avater 
and  chopped  away  the  crusts  of  snow,  the  Idocks  being 
then  hauled  on  board  and  lowered  into  the  hold. 

It  was  near  noon  when  we  began  to  turn  our  backs 
on  this  lake  of  the  gods  and  steamed  along  the  shores 
of  Scidmore  Island.  A  more  perfect  day  never  shone 
from  the  heavens ;  there  was  not  a  speck  of  cloud  any- 
where ;  poets  and  painters,  educated  in  the  fogs  of 
London,  who  write  about  and  paint  the  sunny  skies  of 
Italy,  nevei*  saw  such  an  atmosphere  as  this  ;  the  air 
was  warm  and  balmy,  the  breeze  invigorating,  and  the 
bosom  of  the  deep  blue  sea  here  and  there  bejewelled 
with  the  emeralds,  o^Dals,  pearls,  and  turquoises  that  had 
fallen  fi'om  the  great  towers  of  ice  which  now  received 
our  sad  farewells  and  our  hopeful  p)i"omise  to  return. 
On  our  right,  loom  up  tlie  wonderful  Fairweather 
range  of  White  Mountains,  which  Captain  Carroll  had 
held  in  reserve  for  us  until  this  auspicious  moment. 
The  farthest  peak  is  Mt.  Fairweather,  boasting  an 
altitude  e(pud  to  Mt.  Blanc,  of  over  15,000  feet ;  a  little 
closer  to  us  is  Mt.  Ci'illon,  reaching  towards  heaven 
almost  1G,000  feet;  and  nearer  still,  Mt.  LaPerouse, 
11,300  feet, — all  connected  by  a  long  chain  of  lesser 
ones,  forming  an  immense  range  perpetually  covered 
with  snow  of  the  purest  white.  On  our  left  is  Scidmore 
Island  clad  in  midsummer  verdure  fragrant  with  straw- 
berries and  wild   iio^vers,  and  musical   with  feathery 


LAKE  OF  THE  GODS.  i6i 

song ;  ill  front,  the  ever  placid  ocean,  whose  niarv^el- 
lous  transparency  attests  its  depth ;  and  the  whole 
amphitheatre  bounded  by  a  circle  of  majestic  hills 
clad  in  their  royal  purple.  I  wish  I  could  remend)er 
the  beautiful  words  with  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany- 
likened  it  to  the  glorious  portal  of  a  future  life.  I  do 
remember  that  a  gentleman  standing  near  me  remarked 
"I  did  not  believe  Grod  ever  made  any  thing  so  beauti- 
ful as  this,"  to  which  I  involuntarily  replied,  l)ut  I  am 
sure  not  irreverently,  "  I  did  not  believe  that  lie  couldy 
I  shall  never  again  experience  such  a  day  as  thati  The 
same  sight  under  the  same  favorable  conditions  would 
hardly  again  impress  me  as  did  the  startling  novelty  of 
this  first  view  of  it.  And  to  think  that  it  has  existed 
for  thousands  of  years,  and  the  present  decade  has  l)een 
the  first  to  see  it.  Picture  to  yourself  all  that  \o\\  can 
recollect  of  the  Hudson,  the  Danube,  and  the  Rhine  ; 
caiTy  your  mind  away  up  into  the  fiords  and  rocky 
coast  of  Norway  ;  put  the  little  Swiss  nur  de  glace 
.under  a  microscope;  tliink  of  the  Matterhorn,  the 
Jungfrau,  Mt.  Blanc  and  the  entire  Bernese  Alps ; 
make  one  lake  of  Maggiore  and  all  her  sisters ;  and 
still  this  Lake  of  the  Gods,  as  I  would  have  it  named, 
out-pictures  it  all  a  hundred-fold.  The  day,  the  scene, 
and  the  mood  were  all  in  harmony  for  recognition  of 
the  Divine  beneficence  which  had  given  us  life  and 
health  to  behold  His  glorious  works,  and,  accordingly, 
Di'.  Tiffany  was  requested  to  hold  Divine  service, 
which  lie  cheerfully  consented  to  do  at  three  o'clock  ; 
but  just  as  the  hour  was  arriving  we  sighted  a  steamer 


1 62 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


ahead,  ^vdncll  proved  to  be  our  old  friend  the  Piiita^ 
^\  liicli  we  had  left  at  Fort  Wrangell,  and  as  we  had  on 
board  news  from  the  lonely  Avives  and  children  at 
Sitka,  botli  ships  slackened  speed,  boats  were  lowered, 
and  the  glad  tidings  of  good  health  at  home  Avere 
borne  to  the  anxions  mariners.  To  accomplish  this  Dr. 
Tiffany  postponed  the  service  until  a  later  hour,  and 


THE   TREADWELL   GOLD    MINES. 


when  we  at  last  assemlded,  I  am  sure  a  pure  spirit  of 
sincere  thanksgiving  pervaded  the  entire  congregation. 
It  was  in  the  night-time  that  we  rounded  Dome  Peak, 
entered  the  Lynn  Canal  and  headed  for  Douglas  Island, 
whicli  we  reached  on  Monday  morning,  June  9th,  just 
one  week  from  Tacoma.     We  would  have  passed  right 


THE  TRRADWRLL  GOLD  MINE. 


163 


ou  to  Juneau,  Avliicb  is  iu  sight  a  little  farther  to  the 
north,  but  there  is  something  very  interesting  which 
Ave  must  go  ashore  to  see,  so  Ave  are  tied  up  to  a  long 
Avharf,  the  gang-plank  is  thrown  out,  and  the  same  old 
procession  moves  out ;  this  time  to  visit  the  Alaska 
Company's  gold  mine  (commonl}'  called  tlie  Treadwell 
Mine).  John  Treadwell,  a  San  Francisco  builder, 
bought  this  property  in  1881  from  a  prospector,  of 
whom  a  fair  estimate  may  be  formed  by  the  fact  that 
he  Avas  knoAvn 
only  as  "  French 
Pete."  The  price 
was  $400,  and  for 
some  time  subse- 
quently it  Avas 
operated  as  a 
placer  mine,  the 
character  of  ore 
visible  being,  I 
am  told,  what 
is  scientihcally 
known  as  decomposed  quartz.  Treadwell  sold  part 
of  his  interest  to  others  at  a  large  advance;  and 
to-day  this  quarry  of  gold  produces  an  income  of  half 
a  million  of  dollars  every  year.  From  our  fellow- 
passenger,  Mr.  Bernhardt,  I  gathered  the  information 
(for  I  don't  know  a  thing  about  mining)  that  it  is 
what  is  called  a  low-grade  ore,  and  owing  to  the  im- 
mense water-power  in  the  vicinit}',  the  proximity  of 
the  ocean,  and   the  fact  that  there  is   no  expense  of 


A   WHOLE   C^LARKV    Ui-    GuLD. 


i64  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

shaftino'  aud  tuuuelliiiij:,  it  costs  less  than  two  dollars 
per  ton  to  produce  the  bullion  from  the  I'ock,  and  that 
six  hundred  tons  are  worked  each  day,  of  the  value  of 
from  four  to  six  dollars  per  ton.  We  went  all  through 
the  works,  visited  the  quarry,  hunted  around  for  nug- 
gets but  did  not  find  any,  and  were  taken  into  the  mill, 
where  two  hundred  aud  forty  stamps,  as  they  are 
called,  are  hammering  like  so  many  sledge-hammers, 
making  such  a  noise  that  you  literally  cannot  hear 
yourself  speak,  aud  creating  such  a  vibration  that  you 
dance  around  like  those  bits  of  cork  with  horse-hair 
legs  which  children  play  with  on  the  drum  of  a  piano. 
One  ofentlemau  exclaimed  as  he  emero-ed :  "  That  is  the 
first  place  I  have  ever  been  where  my  wife  can  talk  to 
me  without  making  me  hear."  (Of  course  he  did  not 
refer  to  me  ;  if  he  had  I  would  have  made  myself /e^^.) 
Having  seen  every  thing  of  interest  at  the  mine,  ex- 
cepting the  gold  ingots,  they  having  all  been  shipped 
away  in  a  previous  steamer,  we  moved  on  to  Juneau,  a 
couple  of  miles  distant,  passing  the  "  Bear's  Nest "  and 
one  or  two  other  gold  mines  which  are  as  yet  in  embryo. 
Juneau,  like  Sitka,  is  nestled  at  the  foot  of  a  range  of 
sheltering  mountains.  As  I  approached  it,  I  wondered 
what  would  become  of  the  adults  if  the  small  boys 
should  take  it  into  their  heads  to  bombard  them  with 
snowballs  from  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  which 
abruptly  rise  two  thousand  feet  from  the  end  of  every 
street.  I  consider  Juneau  as  prettily  located  as  any 
city.  I  have  ever  seen,  and  ^vhen  the  rich  fields  of  gold 
which  surround  it  are  developed,  it  will  \er\  likely 


1 66  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

attain  iiiucli  coiimiercial  [)r()iiiiiieiice.  From  all  I  could 
gather  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  history  of  California 
will  be  ]'epeated  in  this  vicinity  ;  the  place  is  full  of 
speculators  and  prospectors,  many  of  the  latter  having 
good  "  claims  "  for  sale,  but  at  very  high  pi'ices.  The 
o^vners  seem  to  have  unlimited  confidence  in  their 
"  hnds,"  and  are  certain  that  they  will  get  their  price 
by  the  exercise  of  patience ;  but  in  the  meantime  they 
lead  an  improvident,  from  hand  to  mouth,  idle  hind  of 
a  life  ;  yet  I  am  told  that  if  they  were  content  t(^  part 
with  their  ownership  to  capitalists  who  would  agree  to 
ex[)end  money  for  development,  and  reserve  a  share  of 
profit  for  the  pre-emptor,  it  is  believed  this  system 
would  he  better  for  the  present  owners  and  much  to 
the  advantage  of  the  locality.  From  the  bay,  Juneau 
has  the  appearance  of  some  systematic  I'egularity  of 
consti'uction,  but  when  you  land  it  has  quite  the  con- 
trary ;  in  fact,  to  quote  the  language  of  my  companion, 
it  "  hooked  as  though  it  had  been  built  late  on  a  Satur- 
day night  and  never  finished."  It  is  an  accidental 
to^vn  ;  unlike  Tacoma,  Seattle,  Victoria,  and  other 
thriving  cities  of  Puget  Sound,  which  have  been 
located  and  laid  out  after  careful  consideration  of  the 
whole  subject,  Juneau,  like  Helena  in  Montana, 
"growed  up,"  as  Topsy  did.  It  is  really  a  mining 
camp,  founded  by  Joseph  Juneau  and  Richard  Harris 
just  ten  years  ago  this  autumn,  and  yet  it  is  to-day 
the  most  important  commercial  point  upon  the  entire 
coast.  This  is  owing  to  the  existence  of  the  gold  placer 
mines  of  the  Silver  Bow  Basin  immediately  back  of  the 


jVA  TIVR  IXDIAN  dances.  167 

shore,  many  of  tlieni  liaving  l)eeii  \vorTve(l  out,  but  leaving 
beliind  them  the  best  evidences  of  tlie  precious  mineral 
awaiting  the  advent  of  capital.  A  serious  embarrass- 
ment, however,  exists  as  to  the  real  ownership  of  the 
different  properties,  and  these  titles,  I  presume,  ^vill  have 
to  be  adjusted  before  the  risk  is  assumed  of  advancing 
the  large  sums  necessary  iov  intelligent  exph^ration  and 
experiment.  The  streets  of  the  town  seem  to  follow 
the  gulches  or  ravines,  and  the  architecture  is  exceed- 
ingly primitive.  There  are  three  or  four  interesting 
shops  at  which  may  be  purchased  every  known  Es(pii- 
maux  curio,  and  two  or  three  where  may  be  seen  an 
excellent  collection  of  sable,  marten,  lynx,  silver-fox, 
and  other  furs.  The  sisins  indicate  that  the  traders 
are  not  wedded  to  specialties,  but  keep  a  stock  of 
varieties  always  on  hand.  One  of  them,  of  which  I  took 
a  note,  read  as  follows :  "  Whipsaws,  potatoes,  new 
onions,  carrots,  and  wall-tents." 

I  spent  a  considerable  portion  of  m)^  time  in  the 
store  of  Messrs.  Kohler  &  James,  who,  I  believe,  are 
the  successors  of  the  North^vest  Trading  Company. 
Here  I  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  system 
of  barter  and  trade  carried  on  between  the  Indian 
hunter  and  the  white  trader.  Upon  arriving  in  to\ATi 
with  the  skins  the  red  man  visits  every  shop  and 
trader  before  he  parts  with  his  supply,  and  he  who  is 
finally  the  highest  bidder  gets  it ;  when  the  bargain  is 
consummated  the  Indian  receives  in  payment  a  num- 
ber of  blue  or  red  tickets,  which  are  taken  l)y  the 
store-keeper  in  exchange  for  such  commodities  as  he 


i68 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


may  require  to  carry  l)ack  to  his  Iiniiiit  liome,  per- 
haps somewhere  near  the  head-waters  of  the  Yukon. 
From  this  store  I  carried  off  some  beautiful  furs  at  most 
reasonable  rates,  and  lioped  to  be  the  possessor  of  a 
much-coveted  sable  rug  of  thirty  skins,  but  failed  to  con- 
vince the  trader  that  my  valuation  of  it  was  a  just  one. 
In  fact,  the  only  regret  I  carried  with  me  from  Alaska 
was  that  I  had  not  given  what  was 
asked  for  this  rug,  but  my  informa- 
tion then  was  to  the  effect  that  prices 
were  specially  prepared  for  tourists, 
which,  I  am  now  convinced,  is  not 
the  case,  certainly  not  at  the  store  of 
which  I  speak.  Just  as  the  ship  was 
leaving  Juneau  I  determined  to 
luirry  back  and  purchase  it,  but  I 
was  admonished  by  the  Captain  that 
L^^time  and  tide  wait  for  no  man," 
nor  woman  either,  so  I  simply  just 
gazed  at  that  shop  with  a  melan- 
choly and  rueful  countenance,  and 
the  increasing  distance,  I  assure  you, 
lent  the  view  no  enchantment.  (I 
ought  to  say  here  in  a  parenthetical 
whisper  that  the  day  I  returned  home  to  New  York  I 
was  surprised  to  find  that  dear  coveted  robe  spread  out 
upon  the  sofa  in  my  library.)  Before  leaving  Tacoma 
we  had  been  handed  a  printed  programme  of  a  "  native 
dance,  by  the  renowned  dancers  of  the  Thlinkit  tribe  of 
Alaska  Indians,  under  the  management  of  D.  Martini, 


ALASKA   CURIOS. 
{Kodalcd  by  Author.) 


JVA  TI\  li  IXDIAX  DAXCF.S.  i6g 

tlie  B.'iriuim  of  Alaska,  and  the  cele])rate(l  Takoii  Cliief, 
YasJ/  J^oosli,  head  chief  of  oDe  of  the  most  warlike 
tribes  of  Alaska,  but  have  succumbed  (sic)  to  tlie  influ- 
ences of  civilization,  .Vdmission  ^1.  Children  50  cts. 
The  performance  will  commence  immediately  after 
the  arrival  of  the  excursion  steamer  at  Juneau,  Ahiska." 
When  we  arrived,  this  Alaska  Barnum,  wearinsx  a  hiofh 
stove-pipe  hat,  in  comj^any  with  Yash  Noosh  himself, 
not  in  the  garb  of  a  warlike  Indian  cliief,  but  in  that 
of  a  cpiiet  guardian  of  the  public  peace,  commonly 
called  a  policeman,  met  us  at  the  dock  and  begged  to 
inform  us  that  the  performance  hud  l)een  postponed 
until  two  o'clock,  and  they  did  this  with  an  air  of 
people  who  seemed  to  think  Ave  had  come  there  simply 
to  see  their  "  greatest  show  on  earth,"  While  this 
ceremony  was  taking  place  a  savage  noise  of  human 
voices  and  beatinii;  of  drums  came  from  a  Ions:  tent  on 
the  beach,  which,  of  course,  ^ve  recognized  as  the  place 
of  perfoi'uiance.  Very  few  of  the  passeugei's  were 
willing  to  be  humbugged  l)y  the  man  with  the  high 
hat  and  the  })oliceman,  yet  our  little  party,  a\  liicli,  l)y 
friendships  created  on  tlie  tour,  might  wow  number 
eiglit  or  ten  persons,  resolved  to  "  take  it  in,"  as  one  of 
the  gentlemen  expressed  it.  We  went ;  we  were  not 
"  taken  in  "  ;  those  who  failed  to  go  were  the  only  ones 
who  were  cheated,  and  they  cheated  themselves.  It 
was  a  remarkable  performance  —  pictures(pie,  bar- 
barous, unexplainable,  and  unique.  The  theatre  itself 
was  a  long  tent,  ^vith  a  platform  curtained  off  by  the 
conunonest   ^vliite  muslin,    rows  of    ])iiie   benches    for 


170  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

seats,  aud  a  little  dressing-room  in  the  I'ear.  The 
audience  consisted  of  tvv^enty-one  persons  who  paid  one 
dollai'  each,  while  the  performers  numbered  about 
thirty  men,  women,  and  children  in  every  imaginable 
garb,  from  the  idtra-aboriginal  to  that  of  the  present 
time.  The  tent  was  insufferably  warm  and  S'lnellfiil, 
the  glare  of  sunlight  through  the  thin  canvas  intense, 
so  that  the  use  of  parasol  and  lavender  salts  was 
indispensable ;  the  stray  Indian  squaws  and  their  off- 
spring sitting  around  the  floors  were  repulsive ;  never- 
theless, with  all  its  unattractive  surroundings,  I  would 
not  have  missed  it.  There  was  no  humbug  about  the 
dramatis  persome,  the  wardrobe,  or  the  implements, 
and,  therefore,  I  presume,  none  about  the  authenticity 
of  the  dances  themselves.  Two  or  three  of  the  men, 
clad  from  neck  to  feet  in  skin-fitting  white  kid  (nuich 
soiled),  were  most  graceful  specimens  of  perfect 
anatomy  and  agility ;  one  or  two  of  the  women  ^vere 
(piite  attractive,  but  others  were  hideously  painted, 
horribly  shaped,  and  were  either  semi-idiotic  or  under 
the  influence  of  lioockinoo  (though  I  saw  no  evidence 
that  any  of  them  could  procure  liquor  in  the  town). 
Men  there  were  with  the  torso  of  a  giant  and  the  lower 
lind)s  of  a  dwarf,  giving  them  a  miserably  awkward 
ofait.  The  Avomen  all  resembled  the  lowest  caste  of 
Chinese,  l)ut  with  coarser  and  broader  faces  and  larger 
features ;  some  of  them  with  faces  painted  eutirel}^ 
black  as  a  complexion  preserver,  others  colored  only 
across  the  upper  portion  of  the  face,  indicating  widow- 
hood, aii«l  all  looking  the  saddest  specimens  of  indif- 


A^A  TIVE  INDIA  N  DA  NCES.  1 7  r 

fereut  ^^l•etchedness,  so  benighted  as  not  to  realize  tlie 
degradation,  misery,  and  filth  of  their  existence.  I  was 
specially  moved  to  pity  by  a  little  girl  about  nine  years 
old,  evidently  a  half-breed,  a  truly  pretty  child,  with 
beautiful  eyes  and  fine  features,  a  little  gypsy  creature, 
who  sat  in  a  filthy  calico  dress,  her  only  garment,  and 
a  bright  red  handkerchief  across  her  black  matted 
hair ;  the  industry  of  her  little  fingers  told  the  story 
of  the  lack  of  care  of  which  this  neglected  bit  of 
humanity  was  the  victim ;  and  in  all  her  squalid  lone- 
liness my  mother  instincts  went  out  to  her,  and  I 
wished  with  all  my  heart  that  I  could  have  saved  her, 
body  and  soul.  The  printed  "  Programme "  of  the 
dances  announced  the  folio  wins;: 

"  Tash-Noosh — An  ancient  dance  participated  in  by  the  Indians  more  than  two 
hundred  years  ago. 

Ya-Koo-tce — An  ancient  dance  in  honor  of  visiting  chieftains  from  afar. 

Ta-Heen-nah-kla-kee — A  wild  and  weird  dance  of  tlie  interior  tribes — verj' 
ancient. 

Oii-de-koo-soi — A  representation  of  the  Shaman,  or  Indian  doctor's  dance 
wlien  expelling  an  evil  spirit  from  a  patient. 

Ko7i'-'ii<hi-ka-klanik — A  dance  making  friends  among  the  tribes — never  per- 
formed since  the  days  of  Baranoff. 

Salmon  dance — This  dance  takes  place  on  the  occasion  of  tlie  spring  run  of 
salmon. 

Love  dance — Chaste  and  pure,  with  its  beautiful  and  soul-inspiring  music. 

Chichigoff  ivaltz — By  Hoonyiah  Indians." 

I  ^vas  so  thoroughly  unprepared  for  the  scenes  ^vhich 
the  lifting  of  the  curtain  developed,  and  paid  so  little 
attention  to  the  explanations  made  l)y  the  Indian  po- 
liceman, who  was  master  of  the  cei'emonies,  or  liis 
interpreter,  that  I  am  unable  to  individualize  tlie  dif- 


172 


A    JVOAfAX'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


fereiit  dauces.  They  all  seemed  alike,  exceptiug  that 
one  I'epresenting  the  incautations  of  the  Shaman.  As 
tlie  cotton  sheet  was  drawn  aside  by  a  pair  of  dusky 
hands,  Indians  of  both  sexes  were  discovered  seated 
around  the  stage  beating  drums  and  singing  a  most 
discordant,  monotonous,  and  dirge-like  song  ;  then 
from  the  little  annex  came  a  procession  of  dancers, 
male  and  female,  dressed  in  buckskin  and  feathers, 
with  horribly  painted  faces,  each  weai'ing  on  the  head 
a  hollow  crown  filled  to  the  top  with  the  down  of  the 
eagle's  breast.  The  dance  commenced  by  a  very  slow 
forward  movement  of  the  body,  the  progress  made 
being  not  more  than  an  inch  at  each  step,  and  wliile 
the  whole  anatomy  was  kept  in  constant  motion  the 

principal  feature  of  it  was  a  jerky, 
forward  movement  of  the  head,  a 
throwing  out  and  draw- 
ing back  of  the  chin, 
as  it  were,  and  a  cor- 
responding   lifting 
of    the    shoulders ; 
this,  of  course,  ag^i- 
--    tated     the     eagle's 
down  in  the  crowns, 
and  in  a  f  ewminutes 
the  entire  tent,stage, 
and  auditorium  was 
a  snow-storm.     As 
the  dancers  became 
Ji/iss  M.  n.  Buuk.)    warmed     to     then- 


NA  TIVE  INDIA  X  DA NCES.  1 73 

work,  which  was  manifested  by  the  feathei's  completely 
covering  their  perspiring  faces,  giving  them  a  Santa 
Clans  expression  that  was  very  f  unn}',  their  legs  began  to 
loosen,  and  tripped  a  cadence  not  unlike  the  ohl-f  ash  ioned 
Virginia  break-down,  while  the  totem-sticks,  paddles,  sal- 
mon-hooks, knives,  and  implements  of  warfare  were  flour- 
ished aloft  in  a  most  careless  and  hazardous  fashion.  The 
peculiarity  of  the  exhibition  was  that  the  dancing  ^vas 
[)alpably  intended  to  give  expression  to  some  thought, 
and  the  looks  of  disdain,  contempt,  hate,  rage,  and 
tender  love  would  have  been  appreciated  even  by  Sal- 
vini.  Some  danced  barefooted,  others  wore  red  socks; 
one  or  two  women  wei'e  robed  in  exquisite  Thlinket 
endjroidered  blankets,  robes  of  fur  graced  (?)  the  shoul- 
ders of  others,  and  one  wore  an  entire  skirt  of  ermine. 
The  Shaman  dance  would  not  have  been  given  but 
that  we  insisted  upon  the  programme  being  carried  out. 
It  appeared  that  the  Doctor  was  disgruntled  about 
something — ^perhaps  the  "beggarly  array  of  empty 
benches  "  disap[)ointed  him,  and  no  wondei*,  for  ^^'hen 
he  did  finally  play  his  part,  it  was  so  exhausting  that 
he  could  hardly  arise  from  the  sitting  posture  which 
he  assumed  from  the  first.  His  was  a  dance  of  the 
arms,  hands,  shoulders,  mouth,  and  eyes.  It  was  a 
sorcei'er's  appeal,  keeping  time  to  the  thumping  of 
drums  on  the  I'ear  seats — the  whites  of  his  eyes  were 
rolled  upwards  during  the  whole  time,  his  head  rocked 
from  side  to  side,  his  fingers  clawed  the  air,  and  his 
teeth  fastened  themselves  in  his  lips  during  the  fervor 
of  his  invocations.     It  was  a  weird  spectacle,  and  if  it 


174 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


didn't  succeed  in  driviug  the  worst  evil  spirit  that 
ever  lurked  around  a  sick-chamber  out  of  the  ^viudow 
it 's  a  very  great  wonder.  We  did  not  hesitate  to  ex- 
press to  the  Alaska  Baruum  our  commendation  of  his 
exhibition,  and  all  voluntarily  recorded  our  opinions  of 
it  in  a  book  which,  at  our  suggestion,  he  procured  for 
our  signatures,  so  that  it  might  impress  the  tourists 
w^ho  followed  us,  Mr.  Policeman  Yash  Noosh  having 
informed  the  spectators  that  it  was  to  be  a  permanent 
institution,  and  I  hope  it  may  prove  so.  It  was  my 
good  fortune  to  ])e  able  to  purchase  the  totem-pole 
which  conspicuously  figured  in  the  evolutions,  but  I 
suppose  it  has  since  been  replaced  by  another. 


CHAPTER  XTl. 


'  HE  prevalence  of  ice  in  sucli  large 
quantities  in  Glacier  Bay  made  it 
prudent  tliat  we  should  not  risk  the 
entrance  of  Taku  Inlet.  As  Captain 
Carroll  expressed  it,  "  the  people  up 
here  must  have  had  a  hard  winter." 
Besides  which,  this  being  the  Queen\s 
first  trip  in  these  waters,  it  was  not  an 
appropriate  time  to  experiment  as  to 
^vhether  she  could  navio-ate  the  uar- 
rower  channels.  In  fact,  it  ^vas  pre- 
dicted before  \\'Q  left  Tacoma  that  she  was  too  big  for 
the  service,  an  opinion  which  she  has  since  very  success- 
fully disproved.  At  the  head  of  Taku  Inlet,  after  a  sail 
of  fifteen  miles,  there  are  to  be  seen  three  very  superb 
glaciers,  none  of  them,  of  course,  equal  to  the  Muir 
Glacier,  yet,  as  it  sometimes  happens  that  owing  to 
fogs  and  ice  the  Muir  Glacier  is  inaccessible  and  may 
not  be  seen  at  all,  the  tourist  will  be  well  repaid  by  a 
visit  to  Taku,  though,  from  what  I  learned  of  it,  I 
again  renew  my  advice  to  i-emain  on  the  ship  rather 
than  wander  over  the  muddy  moraines.  Leaving 
Juneau,  we  ran  due  north  along  the  Lynn  Canal  to 


176  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

Cliilcat,  A\^bicb  is  the  most  uortlierly  poiut  of  the  excur- 
sioD  route,  being  above  the  59  °  of  latitude.  The  scene 
along  the  entire  route  is  in  keeping  with  that  wliit'li 
has  framed  our  journey  since  we  left  Victoria.  Passing 
the  Auk  and  Eagle  glaciers  on  our  right,  we  pause  for 
a  while  in  front  of  the  Davidson  Glacier,  which  meets 
the  eye  on  the  left  like  a  mighty  river  I'ushing  through 
the  mountain  gorges  to  the  sea,  and  madly  emptying 
itself  into  the  ocean  at  the  foot  of  a  dense  forest.  This 
body  of  ice  is  as  graceful  in  form  as  the  Muir  is  heroic 
iu  colossal  stature.  It  is  nearly  three  miles  wide  at  its 
mouth  and  slopes  downwards  from  an  altitude  of  twelve 
hundred  feet,  opening  out  towards  the  spectator  like  the 
spreading  of  a  fan.  Pyramid  Harbor,  e)i  route,  is  an 
exquisite  bit  of  mountain  scenery,  not  unlike  the  Hud- 
son near  West  Point,  though  few  of  the  peaks  are  less 
than  three  thousand  feet  high.  It  is  nearly  dark  when 
we  turn  around,  and,  having  to  retrace  our  steps  over 
the  same  course  for  sevei-al  miles,  we  unanimously 
agree  to  pay  to  Sleep  our  debt  for  the  many  hours 
boiTOwed  from  her  in  the  past  three  nights.  Keeping 
to  the  eastern  channel  around  Admiralty  Island  we,  of 
course,  did  not  stop  at  Killisnoo,  much  to  our  regret, 
but  the  Captain  promised  in  compensation  to  give  us  a 
surprise  in  a  day  or  two  if  the  conditions  favored  it. 

Killisnoo  is  an  interesting  station  from  the  fact  that 
here  is  a  large  manufactory  of  the  Northwest  Trading 
Company  for  producing  fish-oil  and  drying  codfish,  the 
latter  said  to  far  excel  the  same  article  caught  and  pre- 
served by  the  Ne'wfoundland  fishermen.      The  natives 


178 


A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


of  this  pluce  a  few  years  ago  threatened  to  massacre 
the  whites  in  reven2:e  for  the  accidental  killinci:  <>f  a 
Shaman  by  the  premature  explosion  of  a  torpedo,  and 
would  have  done  so  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  a 
revenue  cutter,  which  thi'ew  a  few  noisy  shells  into  the 
village  and  naturally  produced  intense  quiet.  Our  re- 
turn trip  was  so  arranged  as  to  pass  in  the  daytime 
many  excpiisite  marvels  of  scenery,  which  we  had  lost 
in  the  night  coming  up,  among  them  the  Wrangell 


KILLISNOO. 


Narrows  and  Clarence  Straits,  whose  unfathomable, 
still  Avaters  mirrored  the  rocks,  which  buttressed  the 
innumerable  fiords  upon  each  side  of  us  into  all  kinds 
of  sliapes,  shades,  and  angles,  presenting  a  kaleidoscopic 
land-  and  water-scape  the  whole  livelong  day,  all  of 
wliich,  as  I  think  back,  comes  to  me  like  the  fantasy 
of  a  delightful  dream.  In  one  deep  canyon,  where  you 
could  almost  shake  hands  with  a  friend  on  shore,  there 
soared  aloft  a  veritable  American  eagle,  floating  from 
side  to  side  and  encircling  us  with  the  sweep  of  his  grace- 
ful motion  for  many  miles  until  we  reached  the  open 


FEEDING   THE   WHALES.  179 

bay,  aud  then,  as  though  content  that  ^v'e  had  escaped 
the  hazards  of  our  narroAV^  course,  aliglited  on  tlie 
highest  twig  of  the  foi'eniost  tree  of  a  little  island  at 
our  side,  and  with  Happing  wings  seemed  to  bid  us 
God-speed.  If  I  had  been  Captain  Carroll  I  would 
have  dipped  the  colors  to  that  loyal  bird. 

One  morning  we  were  very  much  surprised  by  tlie 
appearance  on  the  surface  of  the  Avater  of  sheets  of 
some  salmon-colored  substance,  for  ^vhich  it  \\-as  not 
possible  to  account.  At  first  we  supposed  it  to  be 
sawdust  floating  out  from  the  mouth  of  some  river  ; 
then  again  it  might  be  salmon-spawn,  yet  the  well  pro- 
portioned Q2^g  was  not  there.  The  sailors  told  us  it  was 
whale  food,  but  that  was  all  they  knew  of  it.  We 
gathered  some  of  it  in  a  pail,  and  were  no  ^vdser ;  but 
we  brought  some  home  in  a  bottle.  AVhen  uncorked 
it  had  "  an  ancient  and  a  fishlike  smell,"  and  when  ex- 
amined by  the  microscope  it  bore  all  the  evidence  of 
being  the  spawn  of  a  small  fish.  There  is  a  little  fish 
in  these  waters  called  the  oulikon  (or  candle-fish), 
which  is  all  oil.  Its  head  beino;  thrust  hx  the  natives 
into  a  split  stick  and  a  light  applied  to  its  tail,  it  burns 
for  a  considerable  time,  the  vertebrae,  I  suppose,  ans^ver- 
ing  for  a  wick.  This  is  the  Indian's  household  illumi- 
nator. It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  is  the  fish  which 
deposits  its  spawn  (>n  the  surface  of  the  deep  sea  under 
the  rays  of  a  powerful  sun,  but  ^vhat  we  sa^v  ^vas  cer- 
tainly not  allowed  to  hatch  out,  for  in  a  few  liours, 
while  exchanging  courtesies,  en  route.,  with  the  Citij  of 
Topeha    northward    bound,  we    saw   large   schools   of 


i8o 


A  WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 


whales  going  straight  fortius  food 
with  \\'oiKlerfnl  instinct. 

A  great  effort  was  made  to  in- 
duce Captain  Carroll  to  run  up 
into  Bute  Inlet,  but  at  this  he 
drew  the  line  ;  he  had  never  ex- 
plored it  excepting  in  a  small 
boat,  and  was  ignorant  of  the 
soundings,  although  he  believed 
it  had,  like  all  the  other  fiords  on 
the  coast,  an  abundance  of  deep 
water.  The  Captain  spoke  of  it 
with  much  enthusiasm,  describing 
the  canyons  as  resembling  those 
of  the  Yellowstone,  and  mounting 
in  a  precipitous  perpendicular 
eight  thousand  feet.  In  fact, 
every  year  develops  some  new 
feature  of  this  glorious  trip,  pro- 
ducing a  fever  to  return  to  it, 
which  has  possessed  me  ever  since 
I  stepped  ashore  at  Tacoma,  after 
twelve  of  the  most  restful  and 
enjoyable  days  of  my  life. 

The  \voiKlerful  discoveries  of 
Professors  Israel  C.  Russell  and 
Mark  B.  Kerr  during  the  past  sum- 
mer in  their  explorations  of  the 
Mount  St.  Elias  range,  lead  me  to 
hope  that  upon  my  next  trip  our 


J-ORT  SLUPSON.  i8i 

sliip  will  visit  Yakiitat  Bay,  where  the  Lucia  and  Baird 
glaciers  reach  the  navigable  waters  of  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean.  I  cannot  luring  myself  to  believe  that  I  have 
vet  to  see  a  mass  of  ice  ecjualling  the  gigantic  pi'oportions 
of  the  Muir,  and  yet  Mr.  Kerr  tells  us  the  "  Lucia  ''  is 
ten  miles  in  Avidth,  and  Mr.  Russell  says  the  "  I^icd- 
mont''  is  the  largest  glaciei"  in  the  Xoithern  Hemisphere. 
Fort  Simpson,  however,  \vas  the  treat  the  Captain  had 
in  store  for  us,  and  a  real  treat  it  anjis.  We  had  left  Fort 
Tongas  behind  us.  and  were  scraping  the  edges  of  the 
Ijeautif  ul  Dundas  Island.  We  knew  that  Metlahkatlah, 
the  refugee  home  of  the  band  of  pilgrim  Lidians  ^vho 
had  lied  from  the  debasing  influences  of  their  kin  at 
Fort  Simpson,  was  right  ahead  of  us,  and  we  felt  sure 
that  we  wouW  be  dropped  down  among  these  Lidians, 
living  up  to  a  nineteenth  century  civilization,  \vith 
churches,  school-houses,  lighted  streets,  a  city  gov- 
ernment, and  so  on  ; — l)ut  nothing  of  the  kind  ;  we 
steered  direct  for  Fort  Simpson  itself,  Avhere  ^ve  arrived 
just  before  sunset.  Oh,  what  a  pity  we  had  not  been 
there  a  few  hours  earlier  ;  what  a  splendid  field  for  our 
camera,  for  it  is  the  home  of  the  totem-[»ole  and  of 
every  ty[)e  of  Indian  life  and  custom,  civilized  and 
savage.  Fort  Simpson  is  in  British  Ooluml)ia,  and 
floats  the  Biitish  flao;.  As  early  as  1821,  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  which  was  the  incorporated  successor 
to  the  grant  of  Charles  II.  to  his  cousin  Prince  Rupert, 
giving  him  exclusive  right  of  ex[)loration  and  settle- 
ment on  the  North  American  continent,  established 
the    post    of    Fort    Simpson,    giving    it    the    name    of 


i82  A    IVOJ/Ay^S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

its  president.  There  are  t\vo  bastions  and  a  stockade 
here,  but  Avhetlier  Ijuilt  then  or  more  recently  to 
resist  the  iuciirsioiis  of  hostile  Indians,  I  was  unable 
to  ascertain.  T  visited,  nevertheless,  the  company's 
store,  which  seems  to  be  about  the  only  place  of  trade 
in  the  village ;  was  quite  courteously  received  by  the 
gentleman  in  charge,  who  showed  me  the  candle-fish 
and  other  indigenous  curiosities,  and  then  I  Joined  tlie 
column  (we  are  beginning  to  look  awfully  like  Cook's 
toui'ists  wandering  around  the  Alps),  note-book  in 
liand. 

The  location  of  Fort  Simpson  is  very  much  like  that 
of  Sitka  and  Juneau;  the  same  kind  of  harbor  and  the 
same  gaunt,  weird  and  slieltering  moiuitains,  but  the 
population  is  almost  entirely  native,  consisting  of  fif- 
teen white  people  and  nine  hundred  and  fifty  Indians ; 
most  of  the  men  were  off  fishing  and  canning  at  the 
canneries  along;  the  shore,  takins:  their  entire  families 
with  them  and  closing  up  their  houses.  Those  who 
^vere  still  at  home  seemed  to  be  superior  to  any  Ave 
had  yet  seen,  their  houses  having  neat  outsides,  though 
the  interiors  afford  much  I'oom  for  improvement.  It 
])oasts  of  a  Methodist  churcli,  an  exceedingly  plain 
structure  of  four  walls  with  a  cheap  lot  of  benches, 
and  a  simple  decoration  of  "  God  is  love  "  behind  the 
pulpit,  a  great  contrast  to  tlie  Greek  church  of  Sitka. 
During  the  past  ^vinter  there  had  been  forty -five  deaths 
from  la  grippe,  and  many  houses  bore  the  Indian  in- 
signia of  mourning — a  piece  of  ])lack  crepe,  pinked  at 
the  edges  and  placed  on  a  sheet  of  white  pa[)er.    These 


FORT  SLMPSON.  183 

badges  were  nailed  on  the  lionies  of  I'ecent  death, 
and  in  many  cases  a  ^veil-sculptured  marble  toml.)stone 
stood  Ijefore  the  house,  inscribed  (as  with  us)  with  the 
name  and  age  of  the  deceased,  which  is  kejjt  here  only 
during  the  mouths  of  mourning,  and  is  then  carried  to 
the  grave.  The  graveyard  is  very  interesting  and 
worth  a  visit ;  but  the  totem-poles  are  by  far  the 
most  remarkable  feature  of  the  place ;  they  are  of 
large  size  and  grotesque  sculpturing,  and  contain  the 
cremated  ashes  of  the  departed.  It  would  not  have 
been  a  sin  against  the  Decalogue  to  have  fallen  down 
and  ^vorshipped  them,  for  they  were  unlike  any  thing 
"that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  be- 
neath, or  that  is  in  the  waters  under  the  earth."  Thje 
children  told  us  that  the  animals  represented  existed 
in  the  olden  time,  but  were  no^v  all  buried  in  the  sea. 
Here  we  saw  abundant  specimens  of  "nnick  a  muck," 
which  ^ve  took  to  be  cuttings  of  peat  for  fuel,  until 
informed,  to  our  great  disgust,  that  it  was  the  Indians' 
staple  food ;  black  in  color,  and  made  up  into  cakes 
about  twelve  inches  square  and  an  inch  thick,  it  hu'  all 
around  the  place,  drying  in  the  sun,  and  overrun  bv 
the  dogs  and  cats  of  the  ^'illage  ;  it  is  made  of  sea- 
^veed,  and  when  well  dried  is  converted  into  soup.  I 
brought  a  specimen  home  with  me,  but  only  to  look  at. 
The  people  who  are  still  in  the  village  have  been, 
within  the  last  thirty  years,  reclaimed  from  a  life  of 
barbarism  marked  by  atrocities  the  recitals  of  which 
are  blood-curdling.  When  the  first  missionary,  ^Nlr. 
William    Duncan    arrived    from    Scotland,   he    found 


1 84  A    irOJlAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

them  absolutely  uuder  the  iutiuence  of  the  Shaman. 
The  Shamans  ^veve  of  two  classes,  man-eaters  and  dog- 
eaters.  At  their  will  life  was  sacrificed  to  remedy  the 
most  trifling  evils,  the  lowly  serfs  being  put  to  death 
to  avert  some  imagined  catastrophe  about  to  happen  to 
a  chief.  Women  ^vere  dragged  by  ropes  to  the  beach, 
brutall)'  murdered,  and  thus  sent  into  the  other  world 
to  be  ready  in  waiting  as  slaves  to  receive  the  sick 
daughter  of  the  chief  who  lay  upon  her  dying  bed ; 
and  Avhen  murdered,  their  bodies  ^veve  eaten  by  the 
Shamans  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  populace. 
"These  are  some  of  the  things  and  scenes,"  says  Mr. 
Duncan,  "which  occur  in  the  day  during  the  winter 
months,  while  the  nights  are  taken  up  with  amuse- 
ments, singing,  and  dancing.  Occasionally  the  medicine- 
parties  invite  people  to  their  houses  and  play  tricks 
before  them  of  various  kinds.  .  .  .  The  o-j-eat  feature  of 
their  proceedings  is  to  pretend  to  murder  and  then 
restore  to  life.  The  cannibal,  on  such  occasions,  is  gen- 
erally supplied  with  t^vo,  three,  or  four  human  bodies, 
\\hich  he  tears  to  pieces  before  his  audience.  Several 
persons,  either  from  bravado  or  for  a  charm,  present 
their  arms  for  him  to  bite.  I  have  seen  several  whom 
he  had  thus  bitten,  and  I  hear  two  have  died  from  the 
effects.'''  All  this,  however,  has  n()\v  changed,  the  peo- 
})le  seem  to  be  well  clad,  \vell  fed,  and  contented,  and 
the  children  g:ive  sijj-ns  of  intelligence  and  education. 
Of  course,  the  plague  spots  are  not  all  ei"adicated  yet ; 
old  habits  still  cling  to  the  aged,  and  they  are  I'eally  in 
a  deplorable  condition.    Being  told  that  an  old  chieftain 


FORT  sf.xrrsoN. 


185 


was  (lying  in  one  of  the  liiits,  we  entered  ;  not  from 
curiosity  merely,  hut  in  tlie  li()[)e  tliat  we  might  per- 
haps render  him  sei'vice.      Alas,  it  was  too  late.      He 
lay  on  a  hlanket   on    tlie  tlooi',  surrounded    l)y   lialf  a 
dozen  women  of  all   ages  stretched  upou  tlie  ground 
like  as  many  seals,  and    life  was    ebbing    peacefully 
away.      We  spok(^  to  the  \vomeii,  who  sim[)ly  glai'ed  at 
us  with  a  dazed  expression,  but   made   110   re^^ly.     At 
the  (h)or,  as  we  were  going  away,  we  mt^t  an  old  s(|uaw, 
probal)ly  the   chieftain's   wife,    laboring  up  the   stee[) 
hill,  staif  in    hand,  and  a  load  of  blankets  on  her  back 
(blankets  are  the  currency  of  her  people);  she  must 
have  ])een  ninety  yeai's  of  age,  and   when  she  i-eached 
the  house  of  mimrnino: it  was  wdth  difficult \ 
she  sat  down,  but  she  kept  u[)  a  continual 
muttering     of    des])airing 
tones   which    wei'e    heart- 
reudiug.       There    was   no 
doiibt  about    her   sorrow. 
The  fountain  of  her  tears 
had     dried    u[).    and    she 
reminded   me    of    Dante's 
description  of   tliat  agony 
\vhich  kn(^ws  no  \'ent  and 
finds  no  relief, "7^>  iionpiaii- 
geva,  si  dentro  impietrair 


CHAPTER  XTII. 


'HEN  we  returned  to  tlie  ship  it  was 
ten  o'clock,  not  by  the  light  of  the 
moon,  but  in  another  of  those  glorious 
sunsets  which  nearly  always  closed 
our  days.  Some  of  our  party  said  it 
was  the  most  gorgeous  sunset  they  liad 
ever  seen,  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  was 
so  satiated  with  the  grand  and  beauti- 
ful that  all  my  powers  of  comparison 
had  departed.  I  remember,  though, 
that  the  entire  ocean  and  the  heavens, 
too,  ^v•ere  lit  up  with  red  and  golden  shimmering 
lights.  A  few  miles  from  Fort  Simpson  is  the  settlement 
of  Metlahkatlah,  \vhere  dwell  the  pilgrim  Indians  ^vho 
fled  under  the  guidance  of  their  Moses,  William  Dun- 
can, from  the  atrocities  and  barbaric  life  of  the  former 
place  in  1862  and  founded  a  town  which  is  a  model  of 
civilization  and  good  government.  Their  constitution 
is  a  written  one,  and  exceedingly  brief.  It  is  a  dis- 
avowal of  vices  and  an  avowal  of  virtues,  and  reads  as 
follows  : 

"  1st.  To  give  up  their  '  Ahlied  '  or  Indian  deviltry. 
2d.  To  cease  calling  in  conjurors  when  sick.     3d.  To 

i86 


METLAIIKATLAII.  187 

cease  gamhling.  4th.  To  cease  giving  away  pi-operty 
for  display.  5tli.  To  cease  painting  tlieir  faces.  Gtli. 
To  cease  drinking  intoxicating  drink.  Ttli.  To  rest  on 
the  Sabbath.  8th.  To  attend  religious  instruction. 
9th.  To  send  their  children  t«j  school.  10th.  To  be 
cleanly.  11th.  To  ])e  industrious.  12th.  To  be  peace- 
ful. 13th.  To  be  liberal  and  honest  in  trade.  14th. 
To  build  neat  houses.      15th.  To  pay  the  village  tax." 

Tlie  population  of  Metlahkatlah  may  be  two  or  three 
thousand — I  was  unable  to  ascertain  the  exact  figures, — 
and  the  principal  industry  of  the  place  is  a  salmon  can- 
nery, which  is  a  joint-stock  company,  the  stock  of  which 
is  held  l)y  the  natives  and  pays  handsome  dividends. 
The  young  men  are  taught  useful  ti'ades  and  appren- 
ticed to  those  who  have  become  proficient.  All  the 
churches,  school-houses,  and  dwellings  are  built  by  the 
inhabitants,  and  the  women  have  learned  to  -weave  and 
to  spin.  The  sanctity  of  the  marriage  vo^v  is  strictly 
observed,  polygamy  is  unkno\vn,  and  children  are  well 
cared  fc^r  physically,  mentally,  and  morally.  It  is 
entirely  the  product  of  the  English  Church  Missionary 
Society,  and  their  fearless  re^^resentative,  Mr.  William 
Duncan.  Most  of  this  good  work  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century ;  and  the  field 
is  still  large  for  similar  undertakings. 

To  describe  the  excpiisite  and  awe-inspiring  scenery 
of  the  next  two  days  as  we  retraced  our  steps  south- 
^vard,  homeward  bound,  is  beyond  the  powei'  of  my 
pen  or  tongue.  It  must  sufiice  if  I  say  that  from  dawn 
until  dark  eacli  day  thei'e  was  not  a  moment  when  the 


i88  A    ir()MAX'S   TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

surroundings  did  not  constitute  a  cliarniing  landscape, 
tit  for  the  easel  of  the  most  famous  ai'tist.  At  no 
time  was  the  ship  in  a  spot  the  vie^v  from  \\hicli  did 
not  ampl)^  repay  the  trip  across  the  continent. 

Nanaino,  on  Vancouver's  Island,  was  our  next  halt, 
and  here  we  remained  until  the  ship  ^vas  re-coaled  from 
the  celebrated  mines  at  this  place,  a  process  which,  oc- 
cupied an  entire  afternoon,  affording  the  young  men  of 
our  ship  an  opportunity  to  be  vanquislied  by  the  "  Na- 
naino  nine  "  at  base-ball.  These  mines  ^vere  recently 
the  scene  of  a  horrible  calamity,  I'esulting  from  the 
careless  use  of  a  lamp  by  a  Chinese  miner,  in  which 
one  hundred  and  eighty  lives  were  lost — making  forty- 
one  widows  and  one  hundi'ed  and  forty  orphans, — 
since  which  time  Chinese  labor  has  been  excluded 
from  the  town.  The  place  is  decidedly  English,  pi'et- 
tily  located,  with  l)eautiful  drives,  and  is  said  to  be  tlie 
best  hunting  and  fishing  resort  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
We  took  a  drive  of  tAvelve  miles  to  a  trout  lake,  where, 
at  a  little  house  in  the  \voods,  we  were  courteously 
received  by  an  English  gentleman  and  liis  wife,  avIio 
kindly  loaned  us  their  boat  and  succeeded  in  doing 
every  tiling  for  our  entertainment  excepting  to  prevail 
upon  the  fish  to  bite;  the  few  unlucky  ones  who  did 
were  safely  captured.  Tt  is  not  an  uncommon  thing, 
oui'  host  told  us,  to  see  a  dozen  deer  coining  here  to 
drink  in  the  evening;  bear  are  ([uite  common,  and  tlie 
whole  country  is  overi'un  with  grouse. 

Next  morning  we  debarked  once  more  at  Victoria, 
where  we  parted   with   oui-  fi'iend  Mrs.   CI.,   ^vho  had 


igo  .1    IJ'OJfA.Y'S   TRTP  TO  AT.ASKA. 

now  reached  liouie,  ])iit  was  williijtr,  she  said,  t(»  re[)eat 
the  trip  at  any  moment.  We,  of  o<nirse,  took  lunch  at 
the  "Poodle  Dog,"  and  then  drove  to  \S(|uinianlt,  three 
or  four  miles  distant,  whei'e  are  the  government  (h)ck- 
}ar(ls,  and  to  the  boating  gronnds.  It  was  a  lovely 
drive,  connnandiug  a  grand  vie^v  of  the  bay  and  the  far- 
off  01ym[)ic  Mountains.  It  was  election  day  in  Victoria, 
and  this  gave  the  gentlemen  of  our  party  an  op[>oi'- 
tunity  of  studying  the  new  Australian  system,  which 
requires  that  each  voter,  before  depositing  his  l:)allot, 
shall  shut  himself  up  in  a  confessional  box,  and  fight 
the  [>olitical  campaign  out  all  by  himself;  and,  having 
satisfied  his  conscience,  without  extraneous  interfer- 
ence, he  is  permitted  to  drop  his  ticket  in  the  l:>ox, 
after  having  marked  a  big  X  opposite  the  names  of 
the  candidates  of  his  choice.  Having;  done  this,  he  im- 
mediately  tells  everybody  how  he  has  voted,  with  the 
same  volubility  that  he  declared  in  advance  how  he  was 
going  to  vote.  So  much  for  the  secrecy  (►f  the  ballot. 
One  colored  man  interested  us  with  the  story  of  his 
arrest  for  illegal  Noting  many  years  ago,  before  the 
war.  It  appears  there  was  then  a  recj^uirement  that 
all  American  citizens  should  be  naturalized  before 
voting.  This  man  had  fied  to  British  CV)lumbia  from 
slavery  after  the  Dred  kScott  decision  had  declared 
that  a  slave  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Victoria  coui't  decided  that  the  reipiirement  did 
not  apply  to  hi  in.  The  gentlemen  of  our  i)arty  thought 
this  quite  a  cause  ceUhre,  and  made  a  note  of  it.  The 
tri[)  up  Puget  Sound  ^vas  again  full  of  interest,  though 


uj2  A    JVOJLLV'S   TKfr  TO  ALASKA. 

only  a  repetition,  in  a  luild  form,  of  that  exipiisite 
blending  of  land-  and  Avater-scape  wliicli  we  liad  en- 
joyed for  tlie  past  Aveek. 

At  Port  Townsend  we  rested  for  a  few  hours  until 
the  cnstoni-honse  officials  had  satisfied  themselves  that 
we  had  not  smuggled  any  thing  from  Bi'itish  Colundjia  ; 
and  here  I  discovered  one  or  two  of  my  fellow-passen- 
gei's  j-ather  unseasonably  clad  in  fur  overcoats,  pur- 
chased in  Victoria.  They  were  evidently  wearing  them 
from  a  sense  of  dutij  to  their  government. 

We  reached  the  wharf  at  Tacoma  on  the  moi-ning  of 
Saturday,  June  14th,  having  made  the  round  trip  in  just 
twelve  days,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there 
were  no  passengei's  who  would  not  gladly  have  turned 
round  and  faced  again  to  the  northward,  if  their 
several  engagements  would  have  permitted.  As  for 
myself,  I  Avas  bound  foi'  the  Yosemite,  and  so  little  had 
my  Alaska  trip  fatigued  me  that  I  remained  in  Tacoma 
for  a  few  hours  onlv,  and  then  started  for  San  Francisco. 


These  pages  I  have  Avritten  at  Saratoga  Springs,  in  the 
midst  of  tlie  gayest  season  ^vithin  my  memory.  I  am 
surrounded  by  many  dear  fi'iends  and  by  ac(piaintances 
Avhom  it  is  a  pidvilege  to  kno^v.  They  have  given  me 
a  most  attentive  and  interested  hearing  whenever  I 
have  taken  occasion  to  speak  of  my  trip  to  Alaska,  and 
it  is  a  satisfaction  to  feel  that  they  really  ^^'ant  to  see  my 
impressions  and  my  photogi'aphs  published  between  two 
covei's.  AVhat  I  liav«^  seen,A()U  and  thevmav  see.  Three 


i:exvol  193 

liuudred  and  fifty  dollars  cannot  be  more  j'l'^jtitabiy 
spent  for  a  summer  \acation,  and  this  is  more  than  it 
costs  f I'om  New  York  to  tlie  icebergs  and  ?jack.  Think 
of  it !  hardly  the  price  of  a  French  costume,  a  ring,  or 
a  l)racelet,  and  yet  the  memory  of  sucli  a  trip  \nll  out- 
live them  all.  The  pleasure  is  much  enhanced  too  by 
the  fact  that  those  who  are  }'our  fellow-passengers  are 
apt  to  be  ladies  and  gentlemen,  by  which  I  mean  per- 
sons Av^hose  goo<l  breeding  naturally  tends  to  a  regard 
for  the  comfort  of  their  companions  ;  and  among  them 
you  A\ill  find  men  and  Avomen,  young  and  old,  of  bright 
intelligence,  Avho,  devoting  their  time  to  travel,  are  full 
of  fact  and  anecdote — scientists,  savants,  authors,  and 
artists  of  renown  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

[^Entre  nous,  I  have  heard  of  and  seen  more  than 
one  friendship,  commencing  on  an  iVlaskan  trip,  winch 
has  ripened  into  mutual  jdedges  "for  good  or  for  bad, 
for  better,  for  Avorse,"  and  especially  of  one  wealthy  and 
much-travelled  Benedict,  who  was  accustomed  to  con- 
gratulate himself  that 

"  A  bachelor 
May  thrive,  by  oliservation,  on  a  little  ; 
A  single  life  "s  no  burthen  "  ; 

but  who  fell  a  victim  in  Alaskan  Avaters  to  female 
charms,  in  fni-s  and  ulster,  resulting  in 

"  A  contract  of  eternal  bond  of  love 
C'onfirmed  liy  mutual  joinder  of  their  hands," 

and,  happily,  there  are  no  regrets.] 

If  you  take  this  ti'ip  as  I  have  taken  it,  you  will 
return  home   \\'iX\\  a  theme  Avliicli   Avill   forct^   vou  to 


194  A    WOMAN'S  TRIP  TO  ALASKA. 

fluency  and  eLxjuence  in  spite  of  yourself,  and  with 
a  longing  to  return  for  further  explorations  in  this 
wonderland,  which  \vill  be  the  hope  of  your  life.  You 
^vill  mentally  photograph  pictures  which  ^vill  presei've 
their  lisrhts  and  shadows  lon^  after  those  of  the  Louvre 
and  the  Vatican  have  faded  into  an  indistinguishable 
mass:  the  mountain-^valle<i  channels  of  British  Colum- 
l)ia,  the  ocean  canyons  of  the  Sitkan  Archipelago,  the 
deep  translucent  waters  of  the  inland,  fiords,  the  snow- 
peaks  of  the  beautiful  Fairw'eather  range,  and  the 
gigantic  and  appalling  Muir  Glacier,  are  scenes  so  un- 
paralleled that  they  can  never  be  forgotten  ;  and  the 
life  of  the  Esquimaux  of  yesterday  and  to-day,  his  vices 
and  his  virtues,  his  ignorance  and  his  intelligence,  his 
yearning  and  his  gratitude,  will  give  you  occasion  to 
thank  God  that  He  has  spared  you  to  see  Avitli  your 
own  eyes  how  education  and  civilization  are  enlai'ging 
their  domains. 

This  is  your  birthday,  and  this,  my  dear  child,  is  my 
remembrance  of  it. 

Aft'ectionately  your  mother, 

Sep  TIM  A  M.  Collis. 

1055  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York, 
September  25,  1890. 


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